My Titans Oneshots
by hhgbh
Summary: A collection of short stories featuring various TT characters. Genre: Mostly humor. Content: suitable for all.
1. Strange Behaviour

Strange Behaviour

It was quiet behind the doors to Titans Tower's main conference room. Far too quiet for Robin's liking. He, Cyborg and Beast Boy were all standing in the hall, waiting for the all-clear from their team mates. Raven and Starfire were dealing with the situation in the conference room. Only two minutes had passed since the girls had entered, and shut the door behind them, but Robin was already finding it hard not to fidget. He glanced at his friends stood at either side of him. The looks on their faces told him that they were probably thinking the same things he was.

Why was this taking so long?

Had something happened?

Had it somehow gotten away from them!

None of the heroes relished the thought of re-entering the conference room with the risk of it still lurking somewhere. Robin was about to try asking Raven for a status report over their communicators, when the large steel doors silently slid apart and revealed the hooded heroine.

The male Titans all stood silently, waiting for news; good or bad. Raven looked at them briefly, then stated in her usual calm voice,

"It's gone."

Cyborg and Beast Boy gave out cries of elation and slapped each other a high five. Robin looked relieved as well, but didn't want to risk celebrating prematurely.

"Are you sure?" He asked Raven.

An eyebrow rose slightly in the shadow of Raven's hood. She knew Robin didn't doubt her word. It was just the cautious leader in him that wanted to be absolutely certain everything was fine.

"Yes. Starfire's taking care of it as we speak. It's safe to go in."

That seemed to be good enough for the boys. They marched back into the conference room and proceeded straight to the gamestation, so that they could resume the three-way free-for-all they'd been having on 'Ninja Dino Robots'.

Raven shook her head slightly and set off for her room. And people thought that _she_ was strange.

---------

Starfire descended slowly from the conference room window of Titans Tower. In her hands, held firmly but gently, was a small plastic cup. She had it upside-down with a piece of card covering the bottom.

Her feet touched the ground in the fledgling garden that the Titans had started to cultivate at the base of their tower. She looked at the budding flowers and plants surrounding her and decided this was probably the best place. Kneeling down she placed the cup on the ground and lifted it up, leaving the card on the grass.

At this point, the young Tamaranian's thoughts went back to her friends' behaviour only a few minutes ago. She'd be lying if she said she completely understood the need for it. Having been a resident of Earth for a couple of years now, Starfire had long grown accustomed to many of the Earthling's ways. Their laws, their food, their clothing; but, now and then, she would encounter behaviour that she couldn't help but find… strange. Her team mates' outbursts being a prime example. But then, having said that, who was she to judge? Just because she didn't understand something, didn't make it wrong. Maybe there was a perfectly good reason Robin and the others had reacted the way they had. It might've been some form of Earth taboo that she was not yet familiar with. Raven had not acted the same way as the boys, but then, she hadn't been born on Earth. So maybe she didn't follow that custom.

Starfire's attention fell back to the cause of all the 'strangeness'. It had wandered off of the piece of card and was walking towards the flowerbed. Its' eight legs moving rather gracefully; Starfire thought.

"Farewell, little arachnid." She called softly after the small creature. "I trust that you will find a more fitting home among our garden's flora. And I hope my friends' outcries did not frighten you too badly."

Retrieving the cup and card, Starfire flew back up to the open window she had come out of. She entered the conference room where Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy were doing battle on the gamestation. As she closed the window behind her, she noticed the boys were all glancing towards her.

"Is it gone?" Asked Cyborg.

"Yes. There is no more need for the shrieking." Starfire answered brightly, while offering a reassuring smile. However, the boys didn't look entirely convinced. Their eyes kept going to the cup in her hand, as if expecting the arachnid to still be in there. She tilted it so that they could see inside and confirm for themselves that it was empty.

Finally satisfied, the boys resumed their game, laughing and taunting each other as if nothing had happened.

Starfire cast a questioning eye to the cup in her hand and then to her friends. She shook her head in puzzlement and murmured quietly to herself,

"Strange."


	2. Addressing all Titans

Addressing All Titans

(Author's note: Here's an interesting thought. What if Robin had taken Beast Boy's advice in 'Calling All Titans' and sent the remaining young heroes a letter? How would that letter have gone? Would it have been something like this?)

Dear Hero or Heroine.

It has come to our attention that the criminal organization known as 'The Brotherhood of Evil' has started a campaign to hunt down and capture young heroes worldwide. Since you, yourself, fall into this category; we are sending this official warning:

Heads up.

As well as that, you will find, attached to this letter, an all-purpose Titans Communicator™. (Instructions for its' use are pinned at the back of the letter.) This device will allow us to keep track of your whereabouts and, should the need arise, come to your aid. You can also use it to, should you wish, contact any other Titan. (We have quite a growing membership.)

Do not worry if you live in what might be considered a hostile environment, or you have powers that aren't exactly 'machine friendly'. These communicators are water-proof, fire-proof and radiation-proof. (Although they do shatter into pieces if you throw them on the ground hard, so be careful.)

Having received this communicator, you may now consider yourself an honorary Teen Titan. When there's trouble, you know who to call!

If you wish to join our wbsite, or subscribe to the newsletter, simply send back the completed andsigned form found inside the communicator when you open it. (Self-addressed envolope provided.)

Yours sincerely,

Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy A.K.A. The Teen Titans (Jump City Division)

P.S. Good Luck.


	3. The Price of Heroism

The Price of Heroism

When you can't sleep, the last thing you should do is toss and turn. The more you move about, the more awake your body will become. You'd be much better off just staying still and trying not to think about not being able to sleep.

Speedy knew this. He knew it and yet, every ten seconds or so, he would change his body's position on the bed. He would turn over, so that he was facing left, instead of right. He'd try changing the shape of his pillow; folding it in half, turning it vertical etc. Heck, he'd even tried sleeping upside-down, with his feet on the pillow and his head under the blanket. But nothing worked.

Finally, with a sigh, Speedy sat upright. He was just going to have to accept the fact that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. He rested his chin in his hand; and his elbow on his knee.

Speedy wasn't the type of person who found it hard to relax. In fact, those who knew him would say that he was usually pretty laid-back. This did not mean that he was lazy. He worked just as hard as any other Titan. He'd just always felt that; rather than letting a problem overwhelm you and possibly cause you to make a mistake; it was sometimes better to step back, take a break and then look at it again with a fresh mind. You may just spot something that you hadn't seen before.

However, there were some things that even Speedy couldn't step back from. Some things… some _memories_ just stayed with you. And the harder you tried not to think of them, the clearer they'd appear in your mind's eye. It was one of these memories that was keeping Speedy awake at two in the morning.

"Come on, man." The masked archer mumbled to himself. "It was months ago. You gotta move on."

There had been some points where he'd thought he had. Days would go by when he didn't even think of it at all. Then suddenly, bam! There it was; back in his head.

Another sigh escaped Speedy's mouth. This must be the price of heroism. When you're in the crime-fighting business, you have to expect to see some pretty weird things. Especially with the sort of villains the Titans faced.

Sometimes it wasn't so bad. You'd see things that; although they may have seemed creepy or even disturbing at the time; you and your friends would have a good laugh about afterwards. But _that_? There was no laughing about that! Looking back on it, all Speedy could ever think of was the complete _wrongness_ of it. Jeez! Physically, such a thing shouldn't even have been possible! How do you get so much… into so little… and the way it-

An involuntary shudder ran through Speedy's body, breaking his chain of thought. He shook his head and kicked the blanket off of his legs. He had to get out of the room; maybe go for a walk around the tower. Something to take his mind off of…it.

He aimlessly wandered the halls for a while, watching his feet to give him something to look at. It wasn't working. He still felt restless. Finally he decided to head for the main conference room. He could make some hot cocoa in the kitchen. Maybe that would relax him enough to allow him to get a few hours sleep.

Speedy pressed the panel next to the double doors and they slid open silently. He took a step into the room, and stopped.

Aqualad, Bumblebee, Mas and Menos were all seated around the meeting table. Each of them had a steaming mug before him or her and, from the tired looks on their faces; it was evident that they'd all been awake for quite some time.

Speedy just looked at his team mates; one foot still in the hallway. The other Titans East members, for their part, just looked back. Finally, Aqualad broke the silence,

"Control Freak in Starfire's uniform?"

Speedy remained still for a few seconds, then slowly nodded his head. Bee reached over and pulled out a chair for him, and the twins passed a ready-made mug of cocoa. The redhead nodded a 'thank you' as he sat down.

The Titans all sat in silence; each mulling over their own thoughts. Suddenly, a unanimous shudder ran through the whole team. So much so, that the table shook a little.

For the third time that night, Speedy let out a heartfelt sigh. The price of heroism was indeed a high one.


	4. Checklist

Checklist

"This is so cool."

It was early evening in Central City. Nearly all the town's youngsters were calling it a day and heading home; their fun over for today. But, in the upstairs bedroom of a seemingly ordinary house, one fourteen year old boy's fun was just beginning.

"This is so cool!"

It was hard to believe. Just a week ago, he'd simply been Wally West. Your average, run-of-the-mill, everyday kid. But now; thanks to a visit to his uncle's office at the Central City Police Department, a few misplaced chemicals and a BIG bolt of lightning; he was Kid Flash! Fastest boy alive!

"This is so COOL!"

Wally bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. If his grin had been any wider, the top of his head would've fallen off. But, hold it. This was no time to get ahead of himself. Superheroing was a serious business and he had to make sure he was fully prepared.

His head whipped around as he scanned his room. Where was his checklist? The curtains fluttered as he zipped around; searching under the bed, in the closet, behind the – Oof! Wally's feet tripped over the clothes he'd discarded, and he landed face-down on the floor. Lifting his chin, he saw the notepad and pencil lying right in front of his nose.

Scooping them up, he got back to his feet. On the top sheet of the pad was written the title:

How to be a Cool Superhero.

Underneath were several scribbled lines; each with a small box next to it, for ticking. The first line read:

Have cool superpowers.

Wally looked at the pencil in his hand. He turned and threw it towards the other end of the room. In a blur, he was there to catch it. He then used it to tick the first box.

Cool superpowers… Check.

Next line: Have cool superhero costume.

In another blur, Wally was stood in front of the mirror. It was full-sized, so he was able to see his entire costume. Except for the gloves, the suit was a one piece. It was close-fitting; better to avoid drag and getting it caught on something. And besides, (Wally's grin grew.) this way the ladies could check out his buff bod.

He struck several poses in front of the mirror, tensing hard to try and make his small biceps look bigger. Oh well. He was still a growing boy. Time to get back to inspecting the costume.

Colour scheme; red and yellow. Very _fast_ colours.

Material; spandex. Contrary to Wally's primary concerns, the stuff was surprisingly comfortable and easy to move in.

Add to all that, the ultra-cool lightning symbol that was the logo of The Flash. Oh, and now for the best part.

Wally reached behind his head and pulled on his mask. One of the most important rules of superheroing was: Protect your secret identity. Not just for your sake, but for the sake of those closest to you. Wally had no doubt that he would make quite a few enemies as Kid Flash, and he hated to think of putting his parents or Aunt Iris in danger. But, hey. Nothing to worry about. At the speed he'd be going, the bad guys probably wouldn't get a good look at his face even if he didn't wear a mask.

Alright. Inspection complete. Cool costume… Check.

Next; Cool superhero persona.

Now Wally had given this some thought. How should he act around the bad guys? Should he try to scare them?

He tried his best to make an 'I'm dangerous' face in the mirror. He then pointed at his reflection threateningly and growled,

"Okay, scumbag. Drop the loot and nobody gets hurt. Try anything and err… I'll give you the fastest butt-kicking you've ever seen!"

Wally dropped his arm and shook his head. Scary clearly wasn't his thing. Hang on; he was a superhero, right? So maybe he should act all super heroic.

This time, he stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and his hands on his hips. Wait, hands? No. Make that fists. That's better. Fists on his hips. His face went all serious and he spoke in a deep voice.

"Ahem. Halt, you cur! Unhand that damsel in distress and give yourself up. Do so, or face my righteous wrath!"

Righteous wrath? Who was he, Sir Lancelot? Wally's shoulders slumped. This was harder than he'd thought. He pulled his mask back and looked into the mirror again. This time, it was him looking back, not Kid Flash.

Wally's eyebrows rose at a sudden thought. Why should there be a difference? Why, when he was fighting the bad guys, should he be any different than he was normally? Okay, there was the secret identity thing again but, come on, when were these bad guys ever going to come across Wally West. He wasn't famous or anything. He was just your average, run-of-the-mill, every day kid. The only difference being that he was able to run at the speed of light.

"Wally!"

Wally's head turned at the sound of his aunt's voice. He looked at the clock next to his bed. Oh man! Was it that time already? Uncle Barry must've been suited up and waiting for him. He quickly pulled his mask back on. He was about to zip out the door when he stopped. He stood, one last time, in front of the mirror. He put his fists back on his hips and stood with his feet apart. But this time, the stance was more relaxed and Wally's usual friendly smile was on his face.

"Watch out, bad guys. Here comes Wally West. But you'll know me as Kid Flash."

With that, he was out the door. His forgotten checklist lying on the floor again.


	5. The Offer

The Offer

Cogs rolled and steam hissed throughout the old factory. The building was fully automated, so there was no human presence there that night. Or, at least, there wasn't supposed to be.

The toe of Madame Rouge's boot tapped impatiently on the metal floor. Patience was not one of her strong points. If this Slade didn't show up soon, something was going to get broken.

"My, my." Rouge spun around, only to find herself face to mask with the very man she'd been thinking about.

"Impatient, aren't we?" Slade finished his observation; not seeming at all bothered by the fingers that had shaped themselves into knives, and whose tips were now mere millimetres from his single eye.

Rouge took a slow step back and returned her appendages to their normal form. She looked Slade in the eye as she spoke,

"Perhaps I simply do not like to be kept vaiting."

Slade stood with his hands casually behind his back.

"My apologies for that, but I have found myself rather busy these last few weeks. So, shall we forego the formalities and get to the point?"

A smile readily appeared on Rouge's lips. She was glad to hear that she wouldn't have to stand here, trading banter for hours. She really did not have the patience for that sort of thing.

"I am here to offer you a partnership. My employer, Ze Brain, believes you vould be a valuable ally in our upcoming battle."

"A partnership…" Slade's head cocked slightly to the side and Rouge could see his eye narrow behind the mask slit. "I'm assuming The Brain believes that he can offer me something; to tempt me into such a bargain."

Rouge spread her arms in an almost welcoming gesture.

"Vhy, he offers you ze same thing he offers all of us. Ze chance to finally be rid of ze Teen Titans."

"Oh, really." Slade's voice held an, ever so slight, mocking tone. "And, tell me, what makes him think that he will be more successful than all those who have faced the Titans before?"

Rouge opened her mouth to answer, but Slade cut her off as he spoke again.

"Or maybe, I should just ask him myself." The ex-mercenary turned to a deeply shadowed corner of the factory floor. "Brain, why don't you enlighten me?"

The sound of mechanized wheels echoed around the buildings walls, accompanied by the thud of very heavy footfalls. The Brain (named as such for obvious reasons) rolled out of the shadows on his black cylindrical stand. The skull-like insignia, on its' front, cast its' dead gaze ahead. Beside him walked his near constant companion; the scientifically enhanced gorilla, Monsieur Mallah.

"**_Impressive, Slade._**" The Brain's spoke in his computerised voice. "**_I have heard much of your various skills, and could not resist testing them myself._**"

Slade's arms were now crossed in front of his chest. Rouge had to admit; this Slade certainly had guts. There weren't many who would dare to take such a defiant stance in front of The Brain, especially with Mallah around.

"It doesn't require much skill to spot a six-foot gorilla." Slade spoke dryly. "Now are you going to answer my question, or am I just wasting my time here?"

And there were even fewer that would speak to him in a tone like _that_!

Surprisingly, The Brain chose to ignore the insolent comment and proceeded as if nothing had happened.

"**_Slade, the reason that so many others have failed before is they forgot the most important rule of engagement; Know Thy Enemy._**"

As if on cue, Rouge stepped back into Slade's line of sight. She held up her right hand and, out of the palm, emerged a circular yellow device. If the shape and colour hadn't already told Slade what Rouge was holding, the white 'T' on the casing would have.

"**_The game has already begun._** **_We have captured two of their pawns._**" The Brain croaked. "**_Wildebeest and Hotspot. We have also retrieved a Titans communicator. From now on, we will know of every move the Titans make. And we will learn valuable information about their friends._**"

"You see, it is not just ze Titans we are after." Mallah spoke up. "Zere are many young heroes in ze world and; although zey may not pose a threat to us now; if left alone zey could become quite a nuisance in ze future."

Slade cupped his chin with one hand. They were talking about wiping out an entire generation of heroes. Ambitious.

"And I suppose the Titans just happened to stumble across this plan and are now attempting to stop it?" He said.

"**_You catch on quickly._**" The Brain replied. "**_The Titans are flying all over the world, searching for young heroes so that they may warn them. Little do they know that, in doing so, they are revealing their comrades' locations to us._**"

Slade's hands had returned to their previous position, behind his back. He gave a small nod to The Brain.

"So, the Titans do all the footwork for you. I must say; I like your style. But, why do you need me?"

"**_Simple. Our strategy is already planned out. All we need now are the pieces. We have already recruited many who have faced the Titans, and their allies, before. But you are likely to possess the most information on their strengths and, more importantly, their weaknesses._**"

An eyebrow rose behind Slade's mask. He couldn't deny that there was merit to the idea. Slade's knowledge and resources, combined with that of the Brotherhood's, would indeed make a formidable force. One that even the Titans might not be able to overcome.

"**_So Slade, can we count on your contribution?_**"

The three supervillians looked at the ex-mercenary expectantly.

"No."

The surprise was evident on two of the three faces. Although The Brain's tone did not change; its' pitch did sound somewhat higher when he spoke.

"**_Perhaps I was not clear on what we are trying to accomplish-_**"

"Oh, you were perfectly clear." Slade interrupted. "But I'll be honest and tell you that I am not interested in working for, or with, anyone. Past experience has taught me that it is far better for me to rely on my own abilities, than that of someone else."

With that said; Slade turned on his heel and casually walked away from them. He raised a hand in a show of goodbye, as he walked, but didn't turn his head.

"I wish you luck all the same."

A growl emanated from Mallah's throat,

"Ze insolent fool! I shall-"

"**_No, Mallah._**" The gorilla had only taken one step when The Brain's voice stopped him. "**_He may come to change his mind, once we have demonstrated our power. If not, then he will come to regret standing before us, rather than with us._**"

Rouge watched the darkness Slade had disappeared into. She had heard that he possessed awesome fighting skills. That he had faced the Titans in combat on several occasions and evaded capture each time. She held her hand up; examining each of the fingers, which then speedily lengthened and sharpened so that each resembled a carving knife.

Should Slade ever prove to an obstacle to the Brotherhood, Rouge would dearly love to see those fighting skills, up close and personal.


	6. Home Improvements

Home Improvements

A man's home is his castle, and that castle must be kept defended.

It was time for the Titans to update their tower's security system. When the T Tower had first been built, the security, while still top of the line, had been relatively simple. Each night, the tower was locked down and the only way to unlock it would be to input the correct code. However, certain events led the Titans to realise that this alone was not enough to keep out unwanted guests. And each time they added a new measure to their home security, some villain would come up with a new way of breaching it.

Well, Cyborg was certain that he had it perfected this time. Star Labs had provided him with the latest cutting-edge scanning technology. This baby was so precise that it would instantly know if an intruder was in the tower, whether they'd teleported in or were using some kind of cloaking device or whatever. Now, it was just a matter of getting the thing set up. At this moment, all the Titans were hard at work integrating their new defence into the tower's systems. Well… nearly all of them.

"Okay, Beast Boy. What's next?"

Robin was on his knees in front of an open panel located near the railing surrounding the roof. It was an emergency access port to the tower's systems. Various tools and electronic components were scattered around him. Cyborg had left specific instructions as to what needed to be done, and it was supposed to be Beast Boy's job to read them out to Robin. A fairly simple job; and one that Cyborg was sure would keep BB's little tofu-stained mitts off of his tech.

"Beast Boy?" Robin looked over his shoulder to see his green-skinned team mate lounging by the rail, reading a comic book.

"Your powers are no match against me, Captain Amazing! Soon the universe will be mine!" Beast Boy read aloud to himself. He then stopped and chuckled. "Captain Amazing. What kind of corny name is that?"

"Beast Boy!"

The changeling gave a little yelp, dropped his comic and picked up Cyborg's instructions.

"Uh, right. So you've already connected the do-dad to the watchamacallit?"

"I've connected the system analyser to the mainframe scanner, yes. Now what?" The Titan leader was trying to be patient but he couldn't help but feel that if Cyborg had just told him what needed doing, he'd be finished by now.

"Okay, so now you just gotta hook the…trans…ponder…coopling to the…signal…mode…ifer."

A small sigh escaped Robin's lips. He picked up the required tools and went back to work, murmuring to himself.

"Alright. Just connect the transponder coupling to the signal modifier. Piece of -"

KZZZZT

Beast Boy watched Robin roll nearly all the way to the other side of the roof. When he finally stopped, he lay twitching slightly with small sparks jumping from his hair. Beast Boy looked back to the instructions and turned the paper over.

"Oh, _after_ you've made sure to turn off the power matrix…thingy."

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Down in the basement, Starfire had removed an entire wall of sheet metal so that she could work on the circuitry inside. Floating in front of particularly complicated looking set of systems, she consulted the diagram Cyborg had given her.

Coming down to land, she looked down at Silkie who sat waiting eagerly.

"Silkie, go fetch the glorbanelk." Starfire instructed.

Silkie scuttled over to the tool box and stuck his head in. After a few seconds of rummaging, he emerged with a pair of wire strippers in his mouth. Starfire took the tool and patted Silkie on the head. She flew back up to the systems she'd been working on before. Using the wire strippers, and the correct parts, she hooked Cyborg's new scanner ware into the systems.

Starfire checked the diagram one last time to make sure everything was right. Satisfied, she pressed the power switch. The wall lit up and hummed as power flowed smoothly through it.

A beaming smile appeared on Starfire's face.

"We have done it, Silkie." She said cheerfully to her gurgling pet. "Everything is working perfectly."

She walked over to where she had left the sheet metal, leaving Silkie to look at all the blinking lights. The colours were so bright and beautiful that the little insect hybrid found himself drawn to them.

Starfire picked up the heavy sheet metal as easily as if it were made of cardboard. She walked back to the exposed circuitry and placed the cover over it. Holding it firmly in place, she used her eye beams to weld the metal to the wall. Stepping back to admire her handiwork, she went to pat Silkie again – only to find that he wasn't there!

"Silkie." Starfire looked around the basement but could see no sign of her pet.

'That is strange.' She thought to herself. 'He was here just a parsec ago.'

She decided to see if he'd scurried off upstairs. Flying out of the basement, Starfire didn't notice the scratching noise coming from inside the wall.

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"Easy. A little more. Little more… perfect."

Cyborg plugged the cables into the CPU. He was standing on a steel ladder, in the middle of the T Tower's main conference room, with his hands working on the wiring in the ceiling. Raven was standing nearby, using her powers to levitate the equipment up to him.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Cyborg could detect the slight twinge of annoyance in Raven's voice. All these little home improvements had meant she hadn't had a chance to meditate all day.

"Not much, Rae. I just gotta – Oops!"

The tiny computer chip that Cyborg had been holding slipped from between his metal fingers, bounced off of his head and landed in the kitchen unit behind him. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see it disappear down the food shredder.

"Oh Man!"

Cyborg and Raven looked down the small hole. The chip had disappeared into the darkness. Cyborg tried to reach in to see if he could fish it out, but his hand was too big.

"Great. We really need that."

Cyborg's mechanical shoulders slumped, but then his gaze shifted to Raven.

"Hey Rae, you've got small hands."

"Yes, but my big brain tells me not to jam them down a food shredder." The empath answered. She motioned for Cyborg to move aside. Focusing on the hole, Raven's eyes began glowing white. A small black ball of energy rose up out of the hole, with various substances inside, including the chip.

"Alright!" Cyborg wiped some old foodstuff off of the chip and headed back to the ladder.

"Cyborg, if you're going to upgrade something, upgrade the shredder." Raven looked at the leftovers she'd brought up with the chip. "These are hardly what I'd call sliced and diced."

"It's all BB's tofu. I don't know how he can even chew that stuff."

Both teens looked up at the sound of the main doors sliding open. Starfire walked in, casting glances around the room.

"Hey, Star. Need any help in the basement?" Asked Cyborg.

"Oh no, everything is fine in the basement. But I wish to know; have either of you seen Silkie?"

"You mean he's disappeared again?" Said Raven.

"Yes. He was there one moment and the next, he was not. I hope he has not wandered into somewhere hazardous." Starfire brought her clasped hands up to her chest. The worry on her face was obvious.

Raven gave a little sigh. She supposed her meditation could wait.

"Come on. I'll help you look for him." She headed towards the door. "You don't need me here anymore, right Cyborg?"

"Sure. Go Raven. I can finish up by myself." Cyborg went back to his work, while the girls left to search for the wayward Silkie.

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"Here, Silkie! Here Silkie! Here my little bumgorf! Come to your knofka!" Starfire called out as she floated down the hallway. Raven followed behind her. She was calling out as well, though not quite as enthusiastically.

"Here, Silkie. Here, Silkie. Here, you little genetically engineered mutant moth larvae. Come to Raven."

"Oh, where do you think he could've gone?" Starfire landed in front of Raven.

"I just hope he hasn't gotten into my room again." The shorter girl answered. "Last time, he almost ate the scrolls of Alistor. I really don't think we want an angry spirit of vengeance swooping down upon the tower."

The girls continued down the hallway, and saw Robin and Beast Boy coming the other way.

"Look Dude, it wasn't _my_ fault! Cyborg should've left clearer instructions!"

The four of them met in the middle. Raven noticed the slightly peeved look on Robin's face, while Starfire noticed something else.

"Robin, what happened to your hair! It is more gravity defying than usual and appears to be sparking!"

"Ask _him_." Robin nodded towards Beast Boy and continued down the hall. The girls crossed their arms and fixed Beast Boy with twin glares.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!" The changeling insisted. "And besides, Robin's fine. He just can't go near anything wet for a while."

Raven rolled her eyes and motioned for the other two to follow.

"Come on. Seeing as we're all done; all that's left is to flick the switch, and pray that nothing goes wrong."

"Why would something go wrong?" Asked Starfire.

"You _do_ remember what happened last time, right?" Raven replied.

"Cyborg is pretty sure he knows where he messed up that time." Said Beast Boy. "Anyway, it wasn't so bad. While we were waiting for the power to recharge, and the lights to come back on, we made a fire and roasted marshmallows."

"Yes, and I remember Beast Boy led the singing of camp songs." Starfire added cheerfully.

"Runny marshmallows and Beast Boy singing. What more could a girl want?" Raven muttered to herself.

"So, what were you guys doing wandering around?" Beast Boy asked Starfire.

"Looking for Silkie." The Tamaranean replied. "He has gone missing and I know not where to look."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll turn up Star." Beast Boy put a hand on her shoulder. "Silkie does have a habit of getting into some pretty weird places."

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Silkie crawled along the cables that'd been his chosen path for the better part of an hour. Ever since he'd found himself trapped in the darkness, he'd been trying to find a way out. His stubby little legs were getting tired and his stomach growled with hunger. Turning a corner, he saw before him a cubic shape with many cables sticking out of it. His insect mind didn't understand what it was, but what he did know was that it was big, it was shiny and it looked really tasty.

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"Okay, ladies and gentlemen. The time has come!" All the Titans were gathered in the main room. Cyborg was positioned by the control panel, on the wall next to the double doors. By this time, evening had arrived and the lights of the city were visible through the Tower's large front window.

Cyborg cracked his mechanical knuckles and grinned,

"Let's see any bad guy try to launch a sneak attack with this baby on the lookout!"

A low growl sounded in Raven's throat.

"Can we _please_ just get this over with – Ow!"

"Sorry." Robin took a step back, so that nobody else would get a shock from his hair.

"Alright, then. Without further ado…" Cyborg placed his hand on the control panel. The sound of electrical humming filled the room and, upon the supercomputer's screen, the words **Security System Initialised **sprang up.

The Titans each let out the breath they'd been holding. The upgrade was a success.

Suddenly, the computer screen went completely blank. Then the lights in the room shorted out. And, through the window, all the lights of the city blinked out one by one.

"…That wasn't supposed to happen." Said Cyborg.

A crash sounded out and Starfire instantly lit up a starbolt. Its' green light shone on the cause of the noise.

"Silkie!"

Starfire picked up her not-that-long-lost pet. Everyone looked up at the hole in the ceiling where Silkie had apparently fallen through. They then looked down at the half chewed CPU, which had fallen with him.

"Dude!" Beast Boy slapped his palm with his fist. "You know what must've happened! Silkie must've eaten the CPU and caused the system to wig out!"

"And here was me thinking Robin was the detective." Said Cyborg, crossing his arms.

Robin pinched the bridge of his nose but, out of the corner of his eye; saw Raven heading towards the kitchen unit.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

"Looking for the marshmallows." Raven answered with a defeated sigh.


	7. The Unknown Henchman

The Unknown Henchman

"Join the Brotherhood of Evil." They said.

"See the world." They said.

What, in the name of all the gods of this world and beyond, made me listen to them!

Oh sure, it started out fine. The Brotherhood aren't _too_ picky about who they accept into their ranks. When conquering the world, you need as many bodies as you can get.

Besides, on regular occasions, we're reminded that; should we ever even consider betraying The Brotherhood; our actions would be met with "dire consequences". Of course, that's just The Brain's way of saying he'll sic one of his trusted henchmen on us.

A lot of the guys think that Mallah would be the one to do the dirty work, but I think that dealing with traitors is a job better suited for Madame Rouge. Don't get me wrong, Mallah's pretty intimidating. After all, he is a 400-pound gorilla who knows how to use a laser rifle; but Rouge… I swear that woman's unstable.

The other members of The Brotherhood destroy those in their path because it is necessary; a means to an end. Rouge, however, seems to take serious pleasure in inflicting pain on others. If I had to choose between a relatively quick end at the hands of Monsieur Mallah, and the sort of treatment that Rouge likes to dish out; I'd take my chances with the gorilla.

But I'm digressing. I was saying how my time in The Brotherhood's employment wasn't too bad, to begin with.

All storm troopers, like myself, are trained under General Immortus. Now, that old guy knows his stuff. He can take a bunch of strangers; some with very little actual combat experience, and turn them into an elite fighting unit. I guess having centuries of battle experience under your belt will do that for ya.

The training was tough, but it was worth it. In the Amazon jungle, under The Brain's leadership and Immortus' command, we succeeded in capturing the Doom Patrol. Now that was something to write home about. I'd heard of how tough the Doom Patrol were; of how they were like The Brotherhood's arch rivals or something. And we'd beaten them!

For five whole months, the Doom Patrol were our prisoners. Personally I wondered why The Brain kept them alive for that long. Wasn't he worried that they might escape? (Heroes have a tendency to do that.) But one of the guys told me that The Brain had this thing for keeping trophies. He told me to think of it as a chess player displaying the pieces he'd captured. I thought it was risky; but what do I know? I'm just a henchman.

Anyway, things were coming to an end in the jungle, and we were all set to move out. When suddenly, POW! One of our own tanks was thrown through the wall of our base and standing in the huge hole it left behind was Robotman! I was sure he'd been shut down for good. I was the one who'd hung the 'Trespassers Beware' sign on him, for a laugh. But there he was, good as new. And he had a bunch of kids with him. One of which was green and wearing a Doom Patrol uniform.

The order to attack was given and in we went. I stuck with the group that were going after the green kid. After all, I figured, he can't be too tough if being green is his only power.

Turns out; it wasn't.

Getting head-butted by a charging T-rex. Not something I'd recommend.

I missed the rest of the battle, due to the fact that I was busy being unconscious. Fortunately, one of the guys got me onto the escape ship before the base went sky high. (Villains' bases have a tendency to do that.) From what I heard, the rest of the troops had done about as well as I had. Those kids, who we now knew were called the Teen Titans, had pretty much ploughed through our forces. And once the Doom Patrol had been freed; well it was practically over.

We had gotten away with the power cell for the quantum generator, so the plan was still a-go. But me and the guys were informed that Immortus' robot unit was going to take over as defence, and that we were being sent back to HQ. I, for one, didn't mind. Let the robots take the heat, instead of us. Once the generator worked and the world leaders surrendered, The Brotherhood would be the ultimate power and I'd be living the sweet life. Or so I thought.

Seems the Titans were even tougher than The Brain had expected. So much so, that the world domination plans were put on hold. The Brotherhood's new objective was to eliminate the Titans and their allies.

The guys and me weren't involved that much in the actual plan. The Brain only sent out his special operatives. And when the main attack on the Titans took place, he called in a lot of evil-doers that he'd been keeping tabs on over the years; most of which had fought the Titans at some point before.

Once again, I wasn't complaining. Some other guys would do all the hard work and I'd still get my share of the reward. I was one of the guards on duty at the front gates of HQ. I watched all of our agents come back from their assignments. Many of them had succeeded in capturing their targets. Some came back empty-handed, but the looks on their faces stated that the Titans they'd gone after would no longer be a threat. Only a few had the look about them (and the bruises) that suggested their quarry had escaped. Big deal. We had them outnumbered and outgunned. What could they possibly do?

It seemed The Brain still had that thing for trophies. Instead of getting rid of the captured Titans, he had this guy called Professor Chang use this huge machine to freeze them solid. Much less risky, but also just a little bit creepy.

My shift had ended and I was ready to take a nap, when an alert was given and we were ordered to assemble in the main hall. The security cameras had spotted five Titans that had managed to get inside the base. Our squad was ready and waiting, as were the assembled villains. The heroes burst through the doors. I noticed the green kid was leading the charge. It was kinda funny seeing the looks on their faces when they realised that their 'surprise' attack had been expected. A little banter was exchanged and the battle ensued.

The villains were doing most of the fighting again and, from the looks of it, were getting their butts kicked. The green kid had turned into a T-rex again, and had bowled a bunch of them over. Now this was our moment. After the embarrassing defeat in the Amazon, Immortus had introduced us to some strategies for dealing with the changeling's various animal forms. A T-rex's weakness; it turns out; is that if it is thrown off balance, its' own weight will bring it crashing down to the ground.

Me and a bunch of the other guys went for the beast's legs, while the more daring troops clambered onto him. It worked like a charm. The fall must've stunned the kid, because he reverted back to his human form. I couldn't help but feel proud that we mere henchmen had managed to beat an opponent that the supervillians couldn't.

It looked like superior numbers had overwhelmed the other Titans too. So that was it. We'd won. World domination here we come.

Lady Luck doesn't seem to hold much love for the bad guys.

I'm beginning to see why they're called _super_heroes. No matter what you do to them, they always seem to find a way to bounce back. A few explosions sound out and there they are. Alive and ready to start kicking.

Okay, so the victory isn't going to be easy. They're still a relatively small group. I figured we could still take them. The battle was pretty even, until that hissing sound appeared. Apparently, one of the little high-speed twins from the Titans East had somehow defrosted his brother, and the two of them were messing about with the freeze machine. Obviously they were trying to free the others. But come on, would Chang really have been so stupid as to have his freezing method so easily reversed?

Yes. Yes, he would.

Which brings us back to the present. Everywhere I look, villains are going down. Within the space of maybe five minutes, we've gone from a total victory to a crushing defeat.

I hear a "Charge!" sound out and see Immortus, with a bunch of the guys going in. Oh good. The general's bound to have a strategy for this sort of situation.

…

Hmm… I guess he's never waged war against the ocean before, 'cos the kid from Atlantis just washed him and the guys away.

What about Mallah? There he is. He's fighting… a giant teddy bear? Oh, correction: He's fighting a giant teddy bear, and losing.

Surely Rouge must be having better luck. There she is now… flying through the air… straight into the freeze machine… great.

Well, I think it's official. We've well and truly lost. I can see Mallah and The Brain hightailing it away, with the Titans in hot pursuit.

As for me, I have a plan of my own. Do nothing. That's right. The Titans are preoccupied now with the robot unit that's just been released. (And The Brain didn't use them earlier because…?) If I just stay out of the way, they won't notice me and I can slip away when no one's looking. After all, I'm just a henchman.

See? It works. Robin just swung right past and didn't even look at me. It seems I'm finally due a bit of luck.

Crash.


	8. A Guy Thing

A Guy Thing

Robin's teeth gritted. Sweat appeared on his brow. The muscles in his arms tensed as he strained. Low grunts escaped from his throat. These grunts caused Starfire to look up from the refrigerator; a bottle of mustard in her hand.

Seeing the struggle her friend was locked in, the Tameranean decided to offer help.

"Robin, if you are having difficulty with the jar of peanut butter, I could -"

"No thanks, Star! I got it!"

Robin continued trying to pry the lid off of the peanut butter. Man, he hated it when they had to open a new jar! What, did they _weld_ the thing shut? He could knock over a man made of solid cement, no problem; but when it came to an ordinary jar of Professor Peanuts…

Starfire stuck a straw into her mustard bottle and walked over to the couch. While doing so, she cast a glance back to Robin and his continuing battle with the plastic container.

Raven was already sitting on the couch; an open book lying on her crossed legs. Starfire sat next to her and spoke softly,

"Excuse me, Raven."

The lavender-haired girl's eyes shifted from the book to redhead beside her. That was enough of a response for Starfire to know she had her attention.

"I am curious. Every time Robin becomes locked in a duel with the peanut butter jar, he refuses all offers of help and wastes a great deal of time and energy. And he usually hates to waste time, when he could be doing something of more use. What is it about peanut butter that makes him act this way?"

Raven looked over the back of the couch towards Robin. He was now trying to get the wingtip of one of his birdarangs under the lid.

She marked her page, closed her book and motioned for Starfire to lean in closer. When she spoke, it was in a low whisper.

"Starfire, let me explain something. Inside every male, there exists something called an ego. Now this ego is a very fragile thing. It requires constant care if the male is to function properly. The methods of care may vary, but it usually revolves around an act of physical strength. So when Robin -"

The girls looked back to the subject of their conversation. He'd trapped the jar in a drawer and was attacking the lid with a butter knife.

"- becomes so insistent about opening the peanut butter jar himself; it's not so much the jar that's he cares about. It's what the jar represents."

Starfire sat in thought for a moment, then turned back to Raven; still speaking softly.

"So, when Beast Boy flexes his miniscule bicep after a victorious battle, or after successfully skimming a stone… or after opening a soda can; this is caring for his 'ego'?"

"Exactly." Said Raven.

"So, what am I to do?" Starfire motioned to Robin, who had now wrapped his cape around the lid and was trying to twist it off again. "Am I to just stand by and let Robin exhaust himself?"

"Not necessarily." Replied Raven. "You see, males can't always satisfy their egos by themselves. So then it's up to us to do it for them."

Starfire looked confused for a moment, but then her eyebrows rose.

"Oh, I understand."

Robin closed his eyes. Losing his temper would get him nowhere. He tried using the breathing technique that he used during his martial arts training. Breathe in slowly through the nose, hold it, and then breathe out slowly through the mouth. He was so busy concentrating on his breathing, that he didn't notice Starfire making her way to the kitchen counter.

Starfire was floating, so that Robin wouldn't hear her coming. She picked up the somewhat dented, but still intact, jar. Placing her hand over the lid, she gave it a sharp twist and it came loose. She turned it back so that it was closed again, but not as tightly as before, and returned to the couch.

Robin let out one last breath, and then opened his eyes. He picked up the jar, placed his hand over the lid and twisted. The lid came loose in his hand.

"Oh Robin, you did it!" Starfire flew over and gave him a quick hug. "I knew you would vanquish the jar of peanut butter!"

A small grin appeared on Robin's face, as he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh, it was nothing Star. Hey, while I'm here; do either of you girls need something opened?"

"No, thank you. We're fine." Raven went back to her reading and Starfire went back to enjoying her mustard.

Robin began buttering his toast, and didn't notice the smile exchanged between the girls on the couch.

Mission accomplished. Ego sustained.


	9. A Girl Thing

A Girl Thing

Aqualad walked down the hallway; his arms full with all manner of junk. Bee had left the tower, to get some information from the police about a new criminal in town. (Apparently, he called himself Soapsuds Man and attacked people by spraying them with extra foamy washing up liquid… there were a lot of strange characters in this town.)

Before she'd left, she'd told her team to tidy the place up. Actually, she'd used more colourful terminology, but that was the basic message. However, it seemed that Aqualad was the only one who had actually been listening to her, as he hadn't seen either Speedy or the twins lending a hand with the clean-out.

It wasn't that the stuff was too heavy. Aqualad could lift a far greater weight than this. It was that there was only so much one pair of arms could carry. Maybe, if there were a couple of other pairs pitching in, the work would get done a lot faster.

'Heck,' He thought to himself. 'Mas and Menos alone could probably have this junk out of here, and in the trash heap, in thirty seconds.'

As if on cue, the mechanical doors on the far end of the hall slid open, and a red and white blur sped towards the dark haired teen. The gust created, as they zoomed past, caused Aqualad to turn a one-eighty. To his credit, he managed to avoid dropping anything.

"Hey guys, watch where you're going!" He called after the twin speedsters, although they were most likely already too far away to hear him.

Before he could even turn around, Aqualad was bumped into from behind. This time some of the supercomputer's power cells, which had drained out, fell to the floor.

Aqualad turned to see Speedy picking himself up. He also apparently hadn't been paying attention to what was ahead of him.

"Speedy, what's -?"

Before the Atlantean could finish, Speedy was already back on his feet and running down the hallway.

"Sorry. No time to chat! We got an A.F.A!" The archer called over his shoulder, before disappearing around the corner.

Aqualad's black eyes widened. He looked around for a possible hiding place; finally settling on the door of a closet to his left. His hands were still full and he couldn't risk dropping his load. It would make too much noise, and he could already hear footsteps approaching.

He finally managed to get the door open by hitting the panel beside it with his elbow. Stepping inside, he did the same thing to get the door closed. It was by no means spacious in there, and it seemed that the light bulb needed changing, but this was not the time to be choosy.

Now, hiding in a closet wasn't usually Aqualad's way of dealing with things. But there were times when you had to pick your battles, and an A.F.A. was not something that he, or his team mates, was equipped to deal with.

(A.F.A. was an acronym that Speedy had made up, not long after Titans East had formed. It stood for 'Angry Female Approaching'.

Being more experienced with the behavioural patterns of the female species, Speedy had instilled these words of wisdom to his fellow males:

"Women are vicious, ruthless creatures that have no sense of mercy, or fair-play. It doesn't take a lot to incur their wrath but once it's aroused, the only plausible option is to seek cover. For once a woman has become enraged; any bearer of a Y-chromosome unfortunate enough to be in their path becomes an undeserving target for their outlet.")

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Bumblebee was _not_ in a good mood. Not only was she mad about what had happened at the Police Station but, now that she was home; the place had clearly not been cleaned up and there wasn't a sign of any of her team anywhere!

"I swear; one of these days, I'm going to have them tagged." She muttered to herself.

There was a small cluttering sound as her shoe knocked against something on the floor. Looking down, Bee realised it was a couple of the old power cells for the supercomputer. One of the things that she had asked the guys to throw out.

"Well, I'm not going to do it." She said as she picked the cells up. She'd stick 'em in the closet until she found the others.

Bee pressed the opening panel by the closet door. It slid open, and she just stood there staring at what was inside. Aqualad was pressed between the wall of the closet and the bundle of various junk in his arms. He was wobbling slightly, due to only standing on one leg. The other was being used to try and steady his load, and keep it from falling.

The two Titans looked at each other for a while, before Aqualad finally spoke,

"Uh… hi."

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Speedy sat on the couch, reading a magazine. He heard the doors slide open and, out of curiosity, turned to see who was there. Aqualad stumbled in, looking like he'd just taken on the entire Brotherhood of Evil himself. Speedy moved over, so that his team mate could collapse next to him.

"She found you?" He asked; his eyes still on his magazine.

"Uh huh" was all Aqualad could manage.

………

"So… what was she mad about?"

Aqualad pulled himself up, so that he was sitting, and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Okay. She was at the Police Station, finding out about this new villain."

"The soap guy?"

"That's right. Anyway, turns out this guy is also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. Really tough."

"So, what? The cops didn't think she could handle him?"

"No. The cops said she'd probably be able to take him fine. On account of her being "one of those fighter chicks"."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So, she doesn't like the idea of being thought of as _just_ a fighter. That nobody gets that there's more to her than that… and then she asked me what I thought."

"And what did you say?" Speedy asked very slowly.

"I said she might be overreacting."

Quick as a whip, Speedy rolled up the magazine in his hands and gave Aqualad three sharp taps over the head with it.

"No, no, no! You do not say that, ever!" The masked archer continued, waving the rolled-up magazine under Aqualad's nose. "When a girl is mad about something; whatever she says, you _agree_ with her! Even if she says the sky is green and the ocean is made of chocolate milk! You were probably right when you said she was overreacting. Heck, _she_ probably knew you were right! But that's beyond the point. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Aqualad blinked a few times, and then shook his head.

"Really don't."

The doors slid open again. This time Bee hovered in, looking at a newspaper.

"Can you believe this?" She said. "This lousy editor has been griping about how we wrecked some dumb statue in the centre of town. He never once mentions that it was only because we were trying to keep that Robo-Ranger from blasting the rest of the city!"

Aqualad gave a small shrug.

"Well, that statue was over fifty years -" He stopped when he noticed that Bee was looking directly at him. He glanced over at Speedy, whose magazine was open again and shielding his face, then back at Bee.

"What a jerk."

Bee smiled and put the newspaper on the table.

"My thoughts exactly. You guys wanna order a pizza?"

The twins suddenly appeared, shouting out their choices of toppings. Speedy got up too, giving Aqualad a pat on the shoulder as he went past.

The Atantean leaned back against the couch and let out the breath he'd been holding. Things had been so much simpler when he'd only had to understand the way animals think.


	10. Evil Acquaintance

Evil?

The night was peaceful enough. So peaceful that the Titans had decided to visit at the movie theatre. They were now walking back to the parked T-car, chatting as they went.

"Dude, that was awesome!" The ever enthusiastic Beast Boy walked backwards as he talked to his friends. "The part where its' hand reached out at him from under the door; I was all like 'Whoa!'"

"We know, Beast Boy." Said Raven. "The entire theatre heard you scream."

"Well… I wouldn't have screamed so loud if Cyborg hadn't detached his hand and had it crawl up onto my shoulder; which, by the way, was totally not funny!" The green Titan directed the last comment to Cyborg.

"Then why was I laughing so hard?" Cyborg replied with a grin. He then rubbed his mechanical hands together. "Okay, before we go back to the tower, who wants donuts?"

Before any of the team could answer, a voice cried out,

"I'm afraid your fun is at an end, Titans. The time has come to face defeat!"

As one, the Titans turned to face their antagonist; each one falling into his or her attack stance. The challenger stood just across the street from them. He was wearing black and white armour that sparked with yellow energy. His face bore a malicious grin as he made ready to attack.

The Titans; having now gotten a good look at their opponent, all visibly relaxed.

"Oh. It is just the Dr. Light." Starfire said as the green glow faded from her eyes.

The skinny villain pointed dramatically at the young heroes and spoke again,

"That's right! And I'm here to -" He suddenly stopped as he registered what Starfire had said. "Wait. What do you mean it's _just_ me!"

"Well, when you yelled at us, out of nowhere, in that loud voice, we thought it might be somebody dangerous." Beast Boy said, with his hands placed casually behind his head.

"You know, you really shouldn't startle people like that." Said Raven.

Dr. Light's left eye twitched. He almost exploded with anger, but remembered what his physician had told him, so he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Don't think your cocky banter will get the better of me!" He said loudly. "The only reason you got me, last time, was because you had your friends to help you! Um…" He cast a quick look around the area.

"They're not here, are they?"

"No, they all went home." Robin answered.

"Oh, good – er – for _them_ that is!" Dr. Light raised his hands; the light from his suit intensifying. "Now, prepare yourselves!"

He was about to attack again, when Beast Boy suddenly spoke up,

"Hey, Doc, can I ask you something? Y'know how nearly every bad guy we'd ever fought was with The Brotherhood when they attacked us? How come you didn't go with them?"

Dr. Light looked at the small changeling for a moment, confusion etched on his face.

"Say what?"

"He is referring to the alliance the Brotherhood of Evil made with many of our past enemies." Said Starfire. "I am also curious as to why you chose not to join them."

The Titans looked at the blank face on Dr. Light.

"Or, didn't they ask you?" Said Raven.

"What? Oh, of course. _Of course_ they asked me! It's just, um… I prefer to work alone. Yes, that's it! I'm a one-man show!" Dr. Light stood with his hands confidently on his hips. Although his malicious grin looked a little forced.

The Titans all looked at each other.

"They didn't ask him." They all said in unison.

Dr. Light's teeth ground together. He could feel the anger rising in him again. But, no! He had an ulcer to think of. Remain calm.

But, the Titans hadn't finished talking.

"I guess they didn't think he was evil enough." Said Cyborg.

"What!" Dr. Light was livid now. "Not evil enough! I am extremely evil!"

"Are you?" Cyborg crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow. "Think about it, Doc. Aside from robbing banks, what exactly have you done that's so evil?"

"I, um…" Dr. Light held his chin in his thumb and forefinger as he thought. "Oh! I stole the energy of the Northern Lights to power my suit. _And_ I kidnapped an innocent girl in order to do so!"

"Yeah, but didn't that plan kinda blow up in your face?" Robin said with a slight smirk, causing Dr. Light to start seething again.

"Dude, what your problem is, is that you don't think big enough." Said Beast Boy. "All the really evil villains always have these diabolical plans. Plans that involve mind control, and robot armies, and talking space tofu."

Talking space tofu?

"So what, we're giving the villains free advice now?" Said Raven. "Can we just defeat him again and go home?"

"Alright, that's enough!" Dr. Light stamped his foot on the ground.

"I believe this is the part where he throws the 'hissy fit'?" Said Starfire.

"Now listen, you!" The irate criminal pointed an armoured finger at her. "I did not come here to be insulted!"

"Where do you usually go?" Said Cyborg.

"Ha, ha! Dude, good one!" Beast Boy slapped Cyborg a high five.

That was it! '10 Easy Steps to a Calmer You' be damned!

Dr. Light raised both hands above his head. A blinding white ball of energy formed between them. He thrust his arms forward and released the ball in the Titans' direction. Unfortunately for him, at the exact same time, a black dome manifested around him. Ergo, the resulting explosion was trapped inside, with him.

When Raven's dome dissipated, and the smoke cleared, Dr. Light stood twitching in the middle of a small crater. His armour had absorbed most of the blast and was mainly lying on the ground in pieces.

The villain took a staggering step forward, pointed his finger towards the Titans, opened his mouth and keeled over sideways onto the ground.

It didn't take long for the police to arrive to take Dr. Light away. As the Titans watched the prison van drive off, Raven spoke up,

"You know, sometimes I actually feel kinda sorry for the guy."

"It can be frustrating, trying so hard and never getting anywhere." Said Robin.

"I guess." Said Cyborg. He then let out a small chuckle. "But, you gotta admit, he is fun to mess with!"

The heroes turned to head home. Starfire was floating above Beast Boy, when she slowed for a moment.

"I have just had a thought." She said. "Do you think the Dr. Light is even a real doctor?"

"I don't know, Star." Beast Boy replied. "Let's ask him that, next time."


	11. A Place to Call Home

A Place to Call Home

There is one certainty in this world. For as long as there is life, there will be those who seek to meddle in it. And, all too often, that meddling turned out to be bad for both them and those around them.

A prime example of this would be the seven-foot tall scorpion creature that was currently running amok in a usually peaceful town in Mexico.

Once a simple creature of the desert, the arachnid had been collected by an overambitious scientist that had been experimenting with animals; trying to create workers that could do hard physical labor more effectively than humans. While the scorpion was now indeed more efficient than it had been before, it was by no means suitable for the labor force.

The creature swung its' massive pincers at anything surrounding it. They easily smashed through the walls of buildings and crushed vehicles. The local police force had tried stopping the monster, but its' natural armor plating caused the bullets from their guns to bounce off harmlessly.

Lowering itself near the ground, the monster charged at the police officers like an armored tank. Those who didn't get out of the way were knocked into the air, before landing painfully on the ground. The scorpion focused its' attention on two unfortunate officers, who hadn't flown as far as the others. The men looked up to see the beast's deadly tail rise above its' head.

The scorpion reared its' tail back and – hold on, this wasn't right. It was trying to bring its' tail down onto the humans but it refused to budge. Something was holding it back. Before it could even turn around to see what the hindrance was, the scorpion was pulled back by its' tail and flung against a wall. The brickwork caved in under its' weight, allowing some slabs to fall upon the creature. However, it quickly shook them off and rose again to face its' attacker.

"You seem to be looking for a fight, my friend." A heavily accented voice said. "I would be only too happy to oblige."

Pantha; heralded as a hero in Mexico, both in and out of the ring; raised a clawed hand and beckoned the creature forward. Lowering itself again, the scorpion charged. Instead of trying to get out of the way, Pantha braced herself and caught the beast as it rammed into her. Her boots dug small grooves in the ground as she was pushed back; but she didn't fall. Letting out a grunt of effort, Pantha reached under the scorpion and lifted it clean off the floor!

Holding the squirming creature high above her head, Pantha threw it back in the direction it had come; away from the fleeing citizens. The scorpion flew a fair distance before hitting the ground and rolling a few more meters. It staggered back upright, only to be forced back to the ground. Pantha had used a lamp post to heave herself into the air and landed on the beast with a flying body slam.

The two super-powered beings rolled and wrestled up and down the deserted street. Pantha was just as strong as the scorpion but its' armor plating gave it better protection; plus she had to watch out for its' pincers, as well as its' tail. However, she wasn't at a complete disadvantage. While the scorpion was fighting with animalistic rage, the masked heroine had intelligence to back up her strength. Also, her time in the ring had taught her a few tricks about wearing down your opponent.

The ring had also given her something else too. There was a time when Pantha had thought that she didn't belong anywhere. Her situation hadn't really been all that different from "Scorpio's" here. A result of someone else's sick ambitions; with no memory and no where to go. Things had looked pretty hopeless. But the first time she had stepped into a ring; wearing a mask and hoping the crowd would think her claws were part of her costume; it felt different. It felt… right.

She'd flourished in the world of wrestling. Her strength and animal senses had made her practically untouchable. She quickly grew to love the thrill of competition and, whenever she defeated an opponent, the crowd would cheer and chant her name. Now, her secret was out. The people knew she wasn't entirely human, but they didn't care. She was Pantha. Their champion. Their hero.

So, while Pantha could relate to her armored opponent's situation, this was her home and she would not allow any harm to come to it.

--

Eight year-old Antonio Enriquez was trapped. His home had been one of the first to be struck by the giant scorpion that was attacking their town. An entire wall had been knocked down by the monster's tail, causing half the house to fall down. Antonio was now stuck in the other half but, judging by the ominous creaks coming from the ceiling, that wasn't going to stay upright much longer.

Suddenly, the wall next to him gave a great shudder. It went still for a moment, but then a great roar sounded out and something burst through. Antonio shielded his face from the rising dust. Once it had cleared, he looked up and gaped at what stood before him.

The figure stood an easy six feet tall. It wore a black suit over its' legs and torso. Its' arms were covered in dark hair and a thick black mane hung down its' back. Its' neck, and most of its' bovine-like head were protected by some sort of silver armor; sticking out of which were two horns.

The creature took a step towards Antonio, who instantly stepped back. A low grunt escaped from its' throat and it reached a hand out to him. The boy took another step back. All of a sudden, the ceiling above them began to shake.

--

Wildebeest looked up. The building was going to collapse at any moment. He didn't have time to convince the boy that he was one of the good guys. Quickly, he scooped the kid up with one arm; placing the other over his head; and ran back the way he had come.

The house caved in on itself amid a cloud of dust and debris. Out of the cloud came Wildebeest. He gave his head a quick shake to get rid of all the brick and wood pieces that had covered it, and then checked on the little boy. He was somewhat shaken, but otherwise fine.

A man and woman came running up, calling his name. They must've been his parents. Wildebeest put the boy down and let him run to them. The horned hero then turned his attention down the street, where he could hear the sounds of fighting.

By the time he and Pantha had arrived, the scorpion had already done a lot of damage. Many houses were either destroyed or on the verge of collapsing. So, while Pantha had gone after the scorpion, Wildebeest had stayed to see if there were any trapped people that needed help. Now that he'd done that, he needed to join the fight.

Taking off at a run, towards the battle, Wildebeest didn't even hear the cries of "Gracias!" coming from the family behind him.

--

"Scorpio" reared up and brought its' claws down hard on top of Pantha. She, in turn, had her arms crossed over her head; absorbing the blows. The monster had proven to be even more resilient than she'd thought. It currently had her cornered against a wall. She was in a crouched position, unable to get up due to the continued onslaught.

Scorpio rained blow after blow on its' enemy, but a sudden noise caught its' attention. Bellowing like a bull, Wildebeest charged at Scorpio and rammed his shoulder into the creature; sending it flying. He offered a hand to Pantha and helped her to her feet. Pantha dusted herself off and said to Wildebeest,

"You are late."

A small smile appeared on Wildebeest's face, and the two friends turned towards the recovering Scorpio. The creature wasn't so eager to charge, now that it was facing two opponents. It lowered itself to the ground and began striking out with its' tail.

Pantha and Wildebeest dodged the deadly appendage and spread out, so that they were on either side of Scorpio. The scorpion kept shifting its' gaze from one hero to the other; clacking its' claws menacingly.

Pantha made the first move; running towards Scorpio. Its' barbed tail shot out at her, but her cat-like reflexes served her well. She turned her body sideways, avoiding the sting, and managed to grab hold of the tail before Scorpio could pull it back.

Trying to wrest its' tail out of Pantha's powerful grip; Scorpio failed to notice Wildebeest coming up from behind. The horned being leapt onto the scorpion's back and grabbed it under its' forearms. The creature stamped and thrashed; trying to shake its' unwanted rider off.

Once again, its' attention focused on one opponent blinded the beast to the other. Pantha took the tail in her hands and drove it into the ground; trapping it there. She then charged at Scorpio. With Wildebeest holding its' claws up, the monster couldn't swipe at Pantha. She got her hands under its' body and, for the second time, lifted it above her head.

Feeling the scorpion rise underneath him, Wildebeest jumped down and landed besides Pantha. He knelt down and cupped his hands together. Pantha placed her foot in his hands and, with a mighty roar, Wildebeest thrust her up into the air.

Mid-flight, Pantha turned the scorpion so that it was between her and the ground. As gravity took a hold, the monster smashed into the hard stony ground with the full weight of the well-built wrestler on top of it.

Wildebeest ran over as Pantha got back to her feet. Noticing his inquisitive look, she assured him she was okay. A sound from the downed scorpion caused them both to take fighting stances again. The creature staggered upright on its' shaking legs. It wearily raised its' claws, but then collapsed in a heap on the ground.

There was a moment of silence, and then the street erupted with sounds of cheering. People came out of various hiding places; clapping and hollering for their triumphant hero. Chants of "Pantha! Pantha! Pantha!" filled the air.

Now that the scorpion was safely unconscious, the special police units were able to take it away. Pantha watched them leave then stretched her arms up over her head; bringing one down around Wildebeest's shoulders.

"Well, my friend, this calls for a celebration. How about some cochinita pibil? My treat."

She walked him down the street with the cheers of the people still ringing out. Wildebeest looked around at the town. While Pantha was perfectly comfortable with lots of people around, he considered himself more the solitary type. This town was a bit too crowded for him, and the people were awfully noisy. He'd come back to Mexico with Pantha because they hadn't seen each other in a long time, but he doubted he'd stay permanently.

"Hooray! Wildebeest! Usted es el major!" Someone shouted out from the crowd. The comment was followed by a new wave of cheering; this time directed towards the silent giant.

Wildebeest raised an eyebrow at the sudden attention. He looked at Pantha, who just smiled and gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze.

"Welcome to my world."

Wildebeest stared ahead again; the corners of his mouth curving up slightly. He probably would move on eventually. But, just for now, it was nice to have a place to call home.


	12. Caught in the Crossfire

Caught in the Crossfire

**7:56am 0-0**

Being awake this early was usually unheard of for Beast Boy. But this was a very special occasion. He crept down the hallway as quietly as his sneaker-clad feet would allow. Finally, he stood at his destination. The sliding steel door with the name CYBORG printed in block capitals upon it.

Beast Boy pressed the panel beside the door, and it slid open. He peered in cautiously; checking to make sure the room's occupant hadn't woken up. Fortunately, there was Cyborg; still asleep on his metal bed.

The changeling crept over to his slumbering team-mate and hoisted himself onto his broad chest. He then transformed. He'd put quite some thought into what animal form would best serve his purpose, and had finally decided on a king cobra. Most of his body was coiled up, but Beast Boy made sure that his head was held up high and that his hood was raised.

Now all he had to do was wait. And, knowing how Cyborg always liked to get an early start in the day, he wouldn't have to wait long.

Indeed, only a couple of minutes had passed before the computer besides Cyborg's bed began to beep; signaling the mechanized teen's sleep period was over. Cyborg let out a loud yawn and stretched his arms above his head. He opened his eye, and saw a green cobra flicking its' tongue out just inches from his face.

--

"Yaaaaarrrgh!"

Raven sat bolt upright as the loud scream reached her ears. Recognizing the voice as Cyborg's, she leapt off of her bed and phased through the door. Her room was closest to Cyborg's, so it didn't take long for her to arrive there; ready to face whatever was assailing her team mate.

However, all she saw was Beast Boy, rolling around on the floor, clutching his sides with laughter. Cyborg was on his feet, fuming at the green Titan.

"Oh, you think that was funny, ya little grass stain!" Steam was practically shooting from Cyborg's ears; both mechanical and organic.

Beast Boy managed to pull himself into a sitting position. His speech was broken up by small giggles.

"No… no I didn't think it was… it was funny… I thought it was hilarious!" He fell back onto the floor, holding his sides once again. "Dude, you should've seen your face! And that scream; I thought the windows were gonna shatter!"

Raven shook her head and the orbs of black energy that had formed around her hands dissipated. Robin and Starfire, at that moment, came through the door.

"What's going on in here?" Asked Robin.

"Robin, you're just in time." Said Cyborg. "I'm about to turn Beast Boy here into a stuffed animal!"

Beast Boy leapt away, out of Cyborg's reach; a grin still on his face.

"Oh no, dude. You know the rules. If you wanna get back at me, you gotta fool me. Whoever gets fooled the most times today is the official 'April Fool'."

Raven had turned around to leave, but she visibly stiffened upon hearing the words 'April' and 'Fool'. Was that accursed holiday back already!

"And I'm already one ahead!" Beast Boy bounded out of the room, snickering to himself.

Cyborg's human eye narrowed dangerously.

"Okay, Green-bean. You wanna go?" He cracked his metal knuckles. "We'll go."

--

**8:30am 1-0**

The Titans were gathered in the main room for breakfast. Cyborg was cooking some eggs and bacon; occasionally pouring the bacon fat into a clear pitcher on the side. Beast Boy was rooting around in the cupboard for some ketchup to go with his tofu. The white, chewy foodstuff was seated on the kitchen table.

The three other Titans had opted to eat their breakfast at the main conference table, so as to avoid any "ricochets" from Cyborg and Beast Boy try to prank each other.

"I am sorry, but I still do not understand why the playing of mean jokes on one's friends should be given a day to celebrate." Said Starfire.

"That makes two of us." Answered Raven. She then turned her attention to the team leader. "Robin, can't you just order them to stop this stupid contest of theirs?"

"You really think they'd listen?" Robin replied. "Look, the way I see it; Cyborg and Beast Boy save all their best pranks for this day. If we let them get it out of their systems now, then the rest of the year will be pretty quiet. I've already told them not to break anything. So let's just try to keep out of the way."

"Easier said than done." Said Raven, casting a glance back at their team mates.

"Where is it? Oh, there you are." Beast Boy brought his head out of the cupboard, having finally found the ketchup. "Who put you all the way back -?"

He stopped and glanced suspiciously over at Cyborg. The tall Titan was whistling to himself, moving his bacon around on the frying pan. Beast Boy unscrewed the lid and peeked into the ketchup bottle. It looked normal. He dipped his finger in and took a careful lick. It tasted just fine.

Still, Beast Boy decided not to take any chances. He'd have his tofu just on its' own today. He sat down, picked up a fork, put a piece of tofu in his mouth – his face blanched and his ears drooped!

At that moment, a smiling Cyborg picked his breakfast up and moved over to the table; revealing behind him the pitcher with the bacon fat in it. Although it was now holding considerably less fat than it had previously.

"Bleeeuugh!" Beast Boy turned his head and spat the contaminated food out of his mouth. He then reeled back to yell at the now laughing Cyborg. "Dude! You are sick! How dare you use the body fluids of an innocent pig in such a way!"

"Ahem." Beast Boy looked over his shoulder. Standing there was Raven, and she was wiping the spit up tofu off of her face.

"Oh." Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Heh, heh. Sorry Raven."

Raven wiped the sticky substance off of her hand, onto her empty plate. She looked back towards Robin.

"What did I tell you?" She said.

--

**12:00 Midday 1-1**

Beast Boy hummed a little tune to himself as he wandered into the garden at the base of the Tower. Raven was levitating, cross-legged, a few inches above the ground. Her eyes were on the open book in her hands, but they rose when she heard Beast Boy pass by.

"What're you doing?" She instantly asked.

"Oh, nothing much." Beast Boy answered innocently. "Just watering the plants."

He picked up a hose, hooked it up to the water main and started spraying the flora around him. Raven raised an eyebrow suspiciously. What was he up to? Was he going to wait for Cyborg to pass by, and spray him with the hose? No, that seemed kind of tame for Beast Boy.

Call it morbid curiosity, but Raven decided to stay where she was. She'd just keep an eye out for whatever trouble was rising.

--

Cyborg rubbed his hands together and cackled evilly as he walked into the garage. That pointy-toothed pain was going to get it good this time. Cyborg just had to go get the 'ingredients'. He'd made sure to stash them in a hiding place, in town, so that Beast Boy wouldn't find them.

After opening the garage door, he got into his car. Reaching up to adjust the rear view mirror, he noticed a small envelope hanging down from it. Inside, Cyborg found a piece of paper with a note scribbled in Beast Boy's handwriting:

_Look in your trunk._

Cyborg's eye widened with horror. What had that little elf done to his car!

The mechanized teen scrambled out of the vehicle and moved to the trunk. Steeling himself for what he might see, he opened it. Doing so caused a wire, that had been tied to the inside lid of the trunk, to tighten. The wire ran down, through a small opening in the bottom of the trunk, where it was attached to the moving parts of the T-car's thruster engines.

Cyborg was knocked back by the thrusters coming to life. He sat up, with a blackened chest, and watched aghast as the T-car sped out of the garage door.

--

"It could just be me, but you seem to be spraying a lot of water over that one spot."

Raven's comment caused Beast Boy to look up from his hosing.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Raven." He answered in that far-too-innocent tone of voice again. "This area's under cover, so it doesn't get as much rain as the rest of the garden."

His ears suddenly pricked up at the sound of the T-car's engine approaching. His face split in a big toothy grin.

"Alright! Here it comes!" Beast Boy dropped the hose and ran, past Raven, behind a couple of bushes. "You might want to move." He called out to his team mate.

Raven looked towards the sound, just in time to see the T-car come speeding down the path, hit a small rise, fly into the air… and land smack-dab in the area Beast Boy had been watering. A wave of mud flew into the air. Raven's eyes glowed white and a dome of dark energy formed around her, which the mud splashed harmlessly against.

As the dome dissipated, she looked at the T-car. It was sitting in a big puddle of mud; about halfway up its' tyres. The dirt and water had splashed across most of its' body and windows. Beast Boy came out of cover, laughing once again.

"Oh, man. That could not have worked better! Do you know how long I've been preparing that trick? Adding water to the mud hole and covering it up, so no one would notice. _And_ I had to sneak a look at Cy's blueprints of the T-car so I'd know how to rig the booster engines. You ever tried dragging a piece of wire through the workings of a car, while in the shape of an insect? It ain't easy, but dude it was so worth it!"

Beast Boy stopped as he heard the heavy, but very fast, footsteps of Cyborg closing in.

"Oh, boy. That's my cue to leave. See ya."

He quickly morphed into a bird and flew back towards the tower, as Cyborg came stampeding down the path. Raven sighed and marked her place in her book. She had a feeling Cyborg would want to share his thoughts on the matter with her too.

--

**3:00pm 2-1**

If you live with someone long enough, you tend to learn some of their habits. For example, Cyborg knew that, around this time, Beast Boy usually enjoyed playing on the gamestation; either alone or with a partner. He'd made sure to give the impression that he was so steamed about his car, he'd spend the whole day trying to restore its' sheen in the workshop. That way, Beast Boy wouldn't be too busy hiding and forego his gaming time.

So it was that Beast Boy sat down on the couch (after checking it for booby traps), picked up his controller (at arm's length, with his thumb and forefinger and giving it a little shake before taking it in both hands) and turned on Mega Monkeys 4.2.

Unknown to him, up in the corner of the ceiling, one of Cyborg's hands sat like a spider; watching the little changeling.

Cyborg saw the goings-on in the living room via a small screen on his right arm. Grinning, he pressed a button near the screen and started to make his way upstairs.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was tapping away at his controller when the television screen suddenly changed.

"What the -?"

The screen was full of swirling black and white lines. They spun and moved like the inside of a kaleidoscope.

"Hey, those look kinda…oooooohhhhh"

The doors slid open and Cyborg casually strode into the room; a friendly smile on his face. He reached up and took his hand down from the ceiling. After reattaching it, he walked over to where Beast Boy was sat and waved his hand in front of his glazed over eyes. There was no reaction from the green teen.

Cyborg leaned against the back of the couch.

"Say BB, I got a fun idea. You up for it?"

A barely audible moan was his only answer.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

--

Raven walked through the main doors, intending to make herself some tea. The sight that greeted her caused her to jump back and let out a small scream. Above the fireplace, over a pair of crossed muskets, Beast Boy's head was mounted on the wall!

After the initial shock had passed, Raven realized two things. The main room of Titans Tower did not have a fireplace, and it certainly did not have a wall right in the centre of the room.

Cyborg stepped out from behind the "wall".

"Hey Raven, I need an honest opinion." He walked up to Beast Boy and placed a set of fake antlers on his head. "Do you think the antlers are too much?"

Raven walked around the back of the set Cyborg had put up. She could see Beast Boy standing on the back of the couch, with his head sticking through a hole cut into it. It reminded her of those photo stops she'd seen on the pier. Looking more closely at his face, Raven couldn't see any sign of conscious thought (not that that was strange for Beast Boy) and although his eyes were open, they were completely vacant.

"I probably shouldn't ask, but…"

Cyborg held up his right arm.

"I really can't take all the credit, Rae. The beam I emitted from my spy hand worked in a way very similar to the hypno rays used by our old buddy Mad Mod. I just projected it onto the screen and bingo."

He stepped back to look admirably at his work, and then pressed a small button near his eye. There was a click, a whir and a flash as Cyborg's mechanical eye took a digital picture of the set.

"Hee, hee. Wait 'til I get this developed and copied. It's gonna be our new greeting card."

Raven let out a sigh.

"Y'know, if you two put half as much effort into tracking down criminals, as you do into your pranks, even Slade wouldn't be able to escape you."

--

**6:20pm 2-2**

Not breaking anything hadn't been the only condition Robin had made when he'd allowed Cyborg and Beast Boy to have their April Fool's contest. He'd also made them promise that the contest would only last until sundown. That way, at least the Titans would be able to relax in the evening without worrying about getting caught up in one of the duo's pranks.

Sundown was about ten minutes away, and Beast Boy and Cyborg had made an agreement. They were going to meet up on the roof and settle the contest; showdown style.

Beast Boy was circling over the roof of the tower, in the form of a pterodactyl. Clutched in his claws was an oversized rubber balloon, filled with extra thick motor oil. If at first you don't succeed…

Cyborg was at the top of the stairs, by the rooftop door. Green-bean wasn't the only one who could do tricks with wires. Tied to the door knob; a wire led up to a plastic bag filled with feathers and a good dose of glue.

He hurried down the stairs and hid around a corner. Soon enough, he heard small footsteps come down the hall and head up the stairs. His mouth widened into a grin at the sound of the door handle being turned.

High above the roof, Beast Boy saw the access door opening. Mentally giggling, he released his cargo. Bombs away.

The glue covered feathers and the motor oil hit their target at the same time. Beast Boy landed on the roof, in human form, ready to commence laughing victoriously when he noticed Cyborg coming up the stairs; about to do the same thing. The laughter died in their throats as both boys looked upon who their pranks had really caught.

Raven reached up and wiped some oil away from her eyes, and then spat some feathers out of her mouth. She looked from one of her team mates to the other and, when she spoke, it was with complete calm.

"Beast Boy. Cyborg. A word."

"Yaaaaarrrgh!"

Beast Boy and Cyborg dashed down the stairs, but two dark tendrils of energy reached out and dragged them back through the door, which then turned black and swung shut.

There were still a few minutes until sundown. Raven was sure she could rack up quite a few points in that time.


	13. The Loser Circle

The Loser Circle

"Still think I don't belong in your pit-sniffing tournament?" Gizmo taunted Cyborg as a rocket launcher popped out of the control unit on his back.

The bionic Titan struggled to push back the two mechanical legs that were threatening to impale him.

"Yeah!" He answered. "And it's about time somebody gave you the boot!"

Cyborg raised his left foot and pointed the sole directly at Gizmo. The midget terror's eyes widened as a panel slid away to reveal a small blaster hidden inside Cyborg's foot!

The blast that followed shattered Gizmo's spider legs and sent him flying into the air. Cyborg stood up and caught Gizmo by his collar on the way down. He pulled the control unit off of the kid's back and tossed it aside.

As Gizmo was dropped unceremoniously to the floor, he heard the Master of Games' voice ring out,

"Winner… Cyborg!"

Gizmo huffily crossed his arms and muttered some of his favorite insults to himself. Suddenly there was a bright flash and the short villain found himself being dragged, by an invisible force, through a spinning vortex. A blinding white light lay at the end. As Gizmo faced the prospect that he was falling towards oblivion, only one word came to mind,

"Crrrrrrruuuuuuuuuud!"

With a thump, he landed face first on solid ground. Well, it was solid anyway.

As Gizmo pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, he looked down and saw his own face staring back at him. Sitting up and looking around, the pint-sized genius found himself in some strange sort of room. It was almost like a cave, since the walls and floor seemed to be made of some kind of red crystal, or glass.

"What the hairball…?"

Gizmo didn't have anymore time to wonder where he was; as another flash filled the 'room' and he heard a yell from above him. Quickly jumping to his feet, he scrambled to get out off the way of the falling figure.

Aqualad landed hard on his back. Groaning slightly, he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Only then did he open his eyes and notice his strange surroundings. He also noticed the little bald boy yelling at him,

"Hey, watch it cludge-head! You nearly landed on me!"

Just then, yet another flash lit the area and another, slightly higher pitched, scream sounded out.

Beast Boy fell to the ground, landing on his butt. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness, and then looked up to see Aqualad staring down at him.

"Aquadude! What's going on? Where are-?"

He was interrupted by some loud mumbling. He then realized why his landing had been so soft and quickly got to his feet. Gizmo looked up from his position on the floor; his beady eyes narrowed in anger.

"Heh heh. Sorry." Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head and grinned awkwardly.

Gizmo was about to say something when, once more, the light flashed and a new figure fell into the room. Aqualad and Beast Boy's eyes followed his descent, and the two teens cringed as Gizmo was again flattened.

Hotspot held his arms up in front of his face and gave a sigh of relief. They had reformed themselves before he powered down. Man, for a _friendly _competition, that Robin guy sure took it seriously.

The dark-skinned boy saw Aqualad and Beast Boy standing over him, offering their hands. He took them and was pulled to his feet; not noticing Gizmo until the small criminal began screaming at him,

"You crud-munching, toe-jamming, pit-sniffer! What're you trying to do; splatter me?!"

Hotspot looked down at Gizmo, and crossed his arms.

"Sorry, next time I fall into a bottomless void, I'll be sure to yell, 'Look out below!' Okay?"

"Where are we?" Said Beast Boy. He and Aqualad were at one of the glass-like walls. There seemed to be some light on the other side, but neither boy could see anything through it.

"Is this some kind of penalty box?" The green Titan thought aloud. "Do you get sent here if you lose in the tournament? 'Coz that big monkey dude never mentioned anything like this."

"I don't think this _is_ a real tournament." Aqualad said as he ran his hand over the wall's shining surface.

"Really? You figure that out all by yourself, barf-brain?!" Gizmo stood with his fists on his hips. "Face it, scuzz-swillers, we've been had. This scrum-buffing contest is a sham."

"Yeah, I shoulda known there was something going on when we didn't see any audience." Said Hotspot. "I mean, who organizes a tournament of superheroes and doesn't sell tickets?"

"Well, if that monkey dude thinks he can keep us here," Beast Boy made the motion of rolling up his sleeves, when really they stayed where they were. "He's got another thing coming."

Taking a few steps back, Beast Boy charged at the wall. He collided with it, head on, and fell back onto the floor with his eyes spinning. The others all gathered around him.

"My hero." Gizmo muttered sarcastically.

"What happened?" Said Aqualad.

"I don't know." Beast Boy sat up and closed his eyes. He opened them again and looked at his hands.

"I can't change!" He cried. "My powers aren't working!"

Hotspot's face took on a look of concentration as he tensed his body.

"Neither are mine!" He said as his body relaxed.

The boys all turned to Gizmo.

"Hey, don't look at me!" He said. "I don't have any stinking powers."

"It must be this room." Said Aqualad. "It's somehow suppressing our powers."

He walked back to the wall they'd been inspecting and started slamming his fists into it, hoping his Atlantean strength could maybe break through. But, unfortunately, that seemed to be gone too. His blows weren't even leaving a scratch.

"Great. So, now what do we do?" Said Hotspot, leaning against the wall behind him.

Aqualad stopped his pounding on the wall, and turned to Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy, try calling for help."

"Good idea." Beast Boy took a deep breath and screamed so loudly, the others jumped about a foot in the air and clapped their hands over their ears. "HELP! HELP! Robin, Cyborg, somebody, get us out of here! HE -"

He was silenced by Aqualad's hand over his mouth.

"I meant, with the communicator." The dark haired teen pointed to the yellow device on Beast Boy's belt.

"Oh… right." Beast Boy flipped open the communicator and spoke into it. "Robin, Cyborg, can you hear me? We're in trouble. Come in!"

His only answer was static. After a few more tries, he flipped the device shut and shook his head at the others.

"Well, that did a snot-load of good!" Said Gizmo. "Any other stinking ideas?"

The boys all stood in silence; none of them able to see a way out of their situation. Hotspot then slowly raised his hand.

"I wouldn't mind giving the screaming a try."

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. What did they have to lose?

"Okay, everybody." Said Beast Boy. "All together, on the count of three. One, two…"

(Some time later…)

"Let me out of here, you barf-smelling hairball! I want out!"

Gizmo pounded on the wall of their prison with his fists, yelling out as many insults as he could come up with. The others were sitting around the room; their throats sore from all the yelling, and their heads aching from Gizmo's continued tirade.

"Hey… HEY!" Gizmo finally stopped at Hotspot's shout. The young Moroccan spoke again, in his normal tone, "I think we've established that the screaming doesn't work."

"Is he always this loud?" Aqualad asked Beast Boy, who was sitting next to him.

"You're lucky. You don't live in the same city as him." Beast Boy answered.

Grumbling, Gizmo sat down in the centre of the room.

"Well, now what?" He said, grumpily. "If we can't call for help, and we can't bust our way out of here, what do we do?"

Aqualad and Hotspot didn't have any ideas. Neither did Beast Boy, but he wasn't going to let his friends (or Gizmo) get down.

"Hey, come on guys! There's nothing to worry about! I'm sure Robin and Cyborg will figure out something's up, and get us out of this." He said with a grin.

"Well, that's reassuring!" Gizmo snorted and crossed his arms. "Bird-Brain and Robo-Wimp to the rescue! I'd like to see how things could get any worse!"

The room's occupants suddenly shuddered as a strange feeling came over them. Not painful, exactly, but still unpleasant. It was like something was being drained from them. When it finally passed, Beast Boy found that he was lying on the floor. He pushed himself up, breathing heavily, feeling as if he'd run a mile.

"Dudes, what was that?" He panted.

He was answered by a familiar flash of light, and the sight of a figure falling right into the centre of the room.

"Cyborg!" Beast Boy scrambled over to his groaning team mate. "Oh buddy, I knew you'd come save us!"

"That's gonna be kinda hard, considering he's now stuck in here too." Hotspot pointed out. Beast Boy's ears drooped.

"Oh, yeah."

Cyborg got to his feet, instantly noticing Gizmo's flattened form on the ground. The minute crook staggered upright; his teeth grinding together.

"Okay, what gunk-eater landed on me this -" He stopped when he saw Cyborg, and a triumphant grin spread across his face. "Well, well, look who's joined the loser circle! What happened, Robo-Wimp? Did ya get yer tin can handed to yer?"

Cyborg whirled on the tiny terror.

"Hey! I got sucked in here, trying to get you guys out!"

"Where _is_ here, exactly?" Asked Aqualad.

"You're not gonna believe this, man." Replied Cyborg. "Remember that red gem the Master has round his neck? We're in it."

"What?" The others stared at Cyborg as he continued.

"I don't know how, but this gem allows him to use all your powers. He's even got Gizmo's tech."

"What?! That snot-eating stinkbomb is using my tech!" Gizmo ran back to the wall and started beating on it with his fists. "Hey, you slug-crunching copy-cat! Nobody uses my tech but me!"

"Awww, we just got him to stop." Hotspot groaned.

"You can bust us outta here, right Cyborg?" Beast Boy looked up at his friend hopefully.

"Sorry, BB. Whatever's going on in here, it's affecting me too." Cyborg was checking his internal scanner, on his arm. "Only my most basic systems are working. I can't even use my sonic cannon. Though I'll bet the Master isn't having any trouble using it."

"I see." Beast Boy looked down, for about a second, then perked up again. "But there's still Robin. I bet he'll figure this out."

"Don't count on it." Cyborg crossed his arms. "He's too focused on winning this thing. I tried telling him something might be up, but he thought I was just trying to trick him."

"Okay, this is bad." Said Aqualad. "With all of us in here, that leaves only Robin, Speedy and Wildebeest in the contest."

He held up three fingers as he continued.

"And if one of them doesn't realize what's happening, before the tournament's over…"

Hotspot's eyes widened as he caught on to what Aqualad was saying.

"Then that means we'll be stuck in here."

"Forever." Added Beast Boy.

Gizmo's physical, and verbal, assault on the wall halted. He turned around slowly; his eyes suddenly wide with fear.

"F-forever?"

He walked up to the others, looking down at the floor. He suddenly didn't look so much like a criminal. More like a scared little boy.

"In here?"

He suddenly brought his hand up and pointed at the group in front of him.

"With you gravel-brains?!"

--

"Man, I am so bored." Hotspot sat with his chin resting on his hand.

The others were all sitting around in various positions. None of them knew exactly how long they'd been imprisoned, but it was definitely too long for a group of teenagers with nothing to do.

"I am so hungry!" Beast Boy howled. "I haven't eaten since before we got zapped out of the tower."

He sighed.

"I bet Terra's real worried about me."

"Who's Terra?" Asked Aqualad, who was once again sitting next to him.

"Oh right, you haven't met her. Terra's our new member. She's really cool. She can control earth." Beast Boy leant in closer with his eyebrows wagging. "And she has a major crush on me."

"This isn't fair!" Everyone looked up to see Gizmo stamping back and forth across the room.

"Dude, I'm sure it's nothing personal. You're probably just not her type." Said Beast Boy.

"Not that, crud-for-brains, this!" Gizmo pointed to the floor of their prison. "Why did I have to be dragged into this? I'm not one of you lame-brain goody-two-shoes! If that slug-face Master wanted to steal powers, there's plenty of guys at the HIVE academy he could've taken, instead of me!"

"Always thinking of others, ain't ya Gizmo?" Said Cyborg.

A flash lit the room, and the boys now knew what that meant.

"Incoming, Gizmo." Said Hotspot.

Gizmo realized he was standing in the centre of the room again. He ran to get out of the way of the new arrival, and he probably would've made it too, if this one hadn't been so big.

Wildebeest landed on his front. The force of his own weight stunned him momentarily, but his eyes flickered open when he felt someone nudging his shoulder.

"Hey man, wake up." It was Cyborg rousing him. Looking up, he saw the other heroes that'd been eliminated from the tournament. He took a look around at the room they were in and let out a confused grunt.

"Okay big guy, I'll give you the short version." Said Beast Boy. "The tournament's fake. We're inside the master's gemstone. Our powers won't work because he's got them. And unless Robin or Speedy gets us outta here, we're gonna be trapped in this place forever. Oh, and you've got Gizmo stuck to your chest."

Wildebeest looked down and peeled Gizmo off of his body. The boy was muttering a string of insults; some that might be considered above his age range.

Now knowing that there were only two fighters to go, and one last chance to be saved; the boys stood in an anxious silence. All too soon, the light filled the room again and Speedy landed amongst them.

"Ha! You missed me!" Gizmo cried triumphantly at the archer's side. Immediately afterwards, he was struck on the head by something that fell in after Speedy.

"Hey, my bow!" The red-clad boy grinned as he picked up his, miraculously fixed, weapon. He then looked at everyone around him, and at their immediate environment, and his face fell.

"This was all a trick, wasn't it?"

The others nodded gloomily.

"Okay, that crams it!" Gizmo marched back to the wall. "I don't know if Bird-Brain or the hairball can hear me and I don't care!"

The young HIVE member took a deep breath and screamed,

"You stinking gack-bag! When I get outta here, I'm gonna nail yer face to a stinking porcupine! I'm gonna make a suit out of yer hairy hide! I'm gonna -"

The others all watched as Gizmo yelled and ranted.

"Y'know something?" Said Beast Boy. "I kinda wanna join in."

The boys all looked at each other.

"Better to go out with a roar, than a whimper." Said Speedy.

Wildebeest gave a decisive snort and joined Gizmo, bellowing as loudly as he could. Soon, all the room's occupants were shouting their lungs out.

Their tirade was halted when the sudden feeling of being drained returned. Speedy staggered back and collapsed to his knees; this sensation being new to him.

"What's going on?" He groaned.

"This is just like before Cyborg arrived." Said Aqualad.

"The Master must be using our powers." Cyborg said through clenched teeth.

"Which means…" Beast Boy's grin returned and he looked toward the wall of their prison. There was a sudden cracking sound and a white light flowed from the wall.

The boys covered their eyes. When they looked again, they found that they were two missing.

"Hey! Cyborg's gone!" Said Beast Boy.

"So is Speedy." Added Aqualad.

"No fair!" Cried Gizmo. "How come they get to go? I've been here longest!"

The undersized genius didn't have long to wait before the cracking sound returned, and the boys saw fractures start to appear in the walls of their prison.

"Oh, yes!" Gizmo pumped his fist in the air. "I am out of here! So long losers! If I never see any of yer ugly faces again, it'll be too soon!"

"Oh, gee. And just when we were starting to get along." Said Hotspot.

There was the sound, like glass shattering, and the white light flooded the room.

--

Various students walked along the many corridors of the HIVE academy. Two of which were the dark teleporter Kyd Wykkyd and his headpiece wearing friend See-More.

"Look man, you gotta accept that you've got a hard to spell name." See-More was saying to the cloaked mute. "Of course, some of the teachers are gonna pronounce it wrong."

This did little to change the look of annoyance on Kyd Wykkyd's face.

"Hey See-More, Kyd Wykkyd!"

The two boys turned to see Jinx and Mammoth walking towards them. Jinx had been the one to call out.

"Have either of you two seen Gizmo? We're supposed to be taking a combat test in an hour and, if we show up a man short, the headmistress will not be happy."

Before a reply could be given, there was a flash of light. When it cleared, Gizmo was standing right in front of them. There wasn't even time for a comment to be made on his sudden arrival before there was another flash. When this one cleared, Mammoth, See-More and Kyd Wykkyd were staring at the empty space where Jinx had been standing.

Their attention was refocused on Gizmo when he called out,

"If you lose, don't stand in the centre!"


	14. Symbol

Symbol

Not many people realized just how passive Thunder was. Maybe it was the nature of his powers that made him this way? Natural thunder is often slow and, although it may sound threatening, is completely harmless. Thunder was of a similar disposition himself. His large build and deep voice would often made him quite intimidating, especially to any criminals that found themselves up against him. But, in truth, he often disliked confrontation and would prefer to take the more peaceful option.

Now was one of those times. He felt that he probably should be doing something to break up the argument that was raging in front of him, but to do so might just make things worse. So instead he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, occasionally sipping on the tea Raven had very kindly made for him; his eyes slowly moving between the two 'combatants'.

It was a silly argument really. Thunder and his brother Lightning had come to Jump City in order to help their friends, the Titans. There had been a group of villains, calling themselves Nature's Fury, attempting to take over the city. Each one claimed to be able to control a force of nature such as wind, lightning etc. However, none of them had any real power. Their abilities derived from enhanced power suits that they wore. So they were no match for a pair of brothers who could be described as forces of nature incarnate.

It turned out that they had not been the only visitors in Jump that day. The masked speedster, Kid Flash, had been staying with the Titans at the time of the attack. He had used his high-speed powers to blow away the so-called wind master Maelstrom, at the same time that Lightning had shorted out the electricity wielding crook, The Bolt.

As the criminals were being carted away, Beast Boy happened to look at Kid Flash and Lightning standing next to each other. He had remarked casually that, with their hair, build and the lightning bolt symbol on both their chests, they kind of looked alike. Lightning had dismissed the comment as foolishness, to which Kid Flash had jokingly replied that he should see being compared to him as a compliment.

Now Thunder knew of his brother's quick temper, and his stubbornness when it came to arguments, but he was now coming to realize that Kid Flash was not one to back down either.

"I am _not_ changing my symbol!" The red-headed hero said loudly. "The lightning bolt has been the symbol of the Flash since World War Two!"

"Your powers do not even have anything to do with lightning!" His yellow-skinned challenger shot back.

"Oh, really? Do you even know how I got these powers? It was a couple of years ago, after I got zapped by a big bolt of _lightning_ that came out of nowhere!"

"Brother, where abouts were you at this time?" Thunder asked Lightning.

"That had nothing to do with me!" Lightning insisted. "I do not go firing bolts of lightning at random places… anymore."

"Anyway," Kid Flash continued, "The lightning bolt goes perfect with my slogan: Kid Flash; Faster Than Lightning!"

He struck a dramatic pose as he said this; with one hand in a fist on his hip, and the other pointing in the air.

Thunder looked to see if he was pointing at anything in particular. After seeing that he wasn't, he said,

"I thought your slogan was: Kid Flash; Fastest Boy Alive."

Kid Flash brought his hand down, behind his head.

"Well yeah, but I've been thinking about changing it. There've been a few jokes circling round…"

"So, you'll change your slogan, but not your symbol." Lightning said, with his arms crossed. Kid Flash turned back to him.

"Well I don't see why you should be the one who gets to keep it." He answered.

"Hmm, let's see." Lightning held his chin in his hand in mock contemplation. "I shoot lightning from my fingers, and my _name_ is Lightning. What else should I use for my symbol!?"

Thunder sighed and put his tea down. If he didn't try to stop this soon, sparks were literally going to fly.

"Brother, does it really matter if someone has the same symbol as you?" He asked gently.

"That is easy for you to say." Lightning replied. "How would you like it if somebody was walking around, wearing your thunder cloud?" He pointed to the cloud symbol on Thunder's chest.

Thunder looked down at his cloud, and put his hand protectively over it.

"Hey dudes!"

The three of them looked up as Beast Boy entered the room; a friendly smile on his face.

"Are you still arguing about that lightning bolt symbol?" The changeling asked as he leant on the back of the couch. "I don't really blame ya for both wanting to keep it. It's cool. I remember thinking the same thing about Mento's lightning bolt symbol when I was in the Doom Patrol."

Both Lightning and Kid Flash's eyes narrowed at this.

"This Mento." Said Lightning. "Does he also have powers of electricity?"

"Hm? Oh, no. He has psychic powers." Beast Boy answered.

"Psychic? What's that got to do with lightning?!" Exclaimed Kid Flash.

Beast Boy suddenly realized the two boys had suddenly turned their attention, and malice, away from each other and towards him. He began to back up, quickly.

"Whoa, dudes! Did I say 'lightning bolt'? Y'know, come to think of it, Mento's symbol is more on its' side. It's really just a squiggly line. Nothing too special about it."

Oh the while this was going on, Thunder was sipping his tea and casting thoughtful looks at his cloud. He wondered if there was such a thing as superhero symbol patent laws.


	15. Driving Lesson

Driving Lesson

Cyborg got into the passenger seat of the T-Car. The sensation felt strange, almost alien, to him. He had to consciously stop himself from adjusting the rear view mirror. As strange as it was; he wasn't the one driving today.

Starfire sat down in the driver's seat and pulled on her seatbelt. She turned to face Cyborg with a smile, but Cyborg could see the slight nervousness in her eyes.

"Don't sweat it, Star." He said gently. "This is your first time behind the wheel, so we'll take it slow."

Starfire nodded and began to check the mirrors like Cyborg had shown her.

Cyborg thought back to when Robin had first approached him with the idea of giving Starfire driving lessons. He had been… somewhat reluctant at first. Starfire had never even ridden in a car before he had unveiled his baby to the team. And besides; he'd tried saying to Robin; why would the girl even need to learn how to drive? She could fly.

Robin had replied with the argument that; suppose something happened that meant Starfire couldn't fly? Like the time they'd been forced into that race, and she and Raven had been hit by a neutralizer beam. It would be useful for her to know how to drive a vehicle. Cyborg had to admit there was logic in that.

And so, over the past few days, he had been teaching Starfire the basic rules of driving. She seemed to pick them up quickly enough. Now it was time to put her to the test.

"Okay, Star. Whenever you're ready." Cyborg looked out the front window, so that Starfire wouldn't be unnerved by him watching her. "Remember; it's clutch first, then gaaaaaAAAAGGGHH!!!"

The T-Car shot out of the T Tower's garage, as if it had been fired from a cannon. It raced down the path towards the water surrounding the Titans' home. The remote-activated bridge, between their island and the city, barely had time to clear the water before the T-Car sped over it.

Starfire steered around various other vehicles, all the while keeping her foot pressed firmly on the accelerator. A look of confidence had replaced that of nervousness on her face.

"I must admit, Cyborg, I was somewhat anxious about driving at first. But it is proving far easier than I thought; and enjoyable! I can see why you -"

She stopped when she glanced over at her friend.

"Cyborg, how are you supposed to monitor my driving with your eyes covered?"

Cyborg tentatively took his fingers away from his eyes. He instantly cried out,

"Jeez, Star! Slow down! We're gonna crash into something!"

"You needn't fear, Cyborg." Starfire replied, reassuringly. "My people fly at speeds much greater than this, when traveling through space. As such, our reflexes are highly refined. You would be amazed at how many things there are to collide with, in space."

"Still, could you slow it down?! We're getting a lot of hand gestures from other drivers, and they're not using all their fingers!"

"Very well."

The T-Car slowed down considerably. Cyborg let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay. Now, why don't we find somewhere you can practice your parking. …Somewhere with a lot of space."

Starfire, following Cyborg's directions, drove on until they reached a relatively clear street. She managed to parallel park smoothly enough. Cyborg gave an approving nod.

"Way to go, Star. You're a natural. What do you say we find some place to have lunch, and then you can drive us back to the tower?"

Starfire beamed with pride at her success. Suddenly, the blaring noise of sirens reached the Titans' ears, and they turned their heads to the source of the noise. A dark blue van raced past them, with several police squad cars in pursuit.

Cyborg looked at Starfire. Her eyes followed the speeding van, and then narrowed dangerously.

"Er Star, maybe we should switch places if we're going to yyyeeeeaARRRGH!"

The T-Car took off again, at an even greater speed than before!

The driver of the fleeing van, clad in a prison uniform, swerved sharply around a corner; causing several pedestrians to run or leap out of his way.

"Hey, Tony." His partner Horace pointed to the passenger side mirror. "Look who's on our tail."

The mirror showed the T-Car swiftly coming around the corner, and bearing down on the escaping convicts.

"Oh great, it's the Titans." Tony pressed down even harder on the accelerator, but they were still coming up fast.

"What're we gonna do, Tony?" Horace asked.

"You still got some o' that dynamite from the breakout?"

Cyborg's teeth were clenched and his hands were gripping the dashboard tightly. His eye widened when he saw a couple of objects come flying out of the van's window, and start bouncing along the road towards them. Objects with lit fuses.

"Star, watch out!"

There was a horrible screech as Starfire turned the T-Car around in a full circle. The dynamite sticks exploded on either side of the car, creating a dust cloud that it sailed through.

Tony gritted his teeth and steered his van into a tunnel, dodging and weaving through other cars that were traveling in both directions.

"Starfire, there's a tunnel. A tunnel with cars in it. Lots of cars. Starfire, tunnel. Tunnel!"

"I see it, Cyborg!" Starfire answered hotly. "Please stop being the backseat driver!"

She drove onward, not showing any sign of slowing down. If anything, the car seemed to be getting faster. Cyborg could only stare at the oncoming traffic; too frozen to even close his eyes.

Just as it seemed they were heading for a pile-up, Starfire activated the T-Car's thruster engines and steered towards the tunnel wall. The high burst of speed sent the car careening up the wall and onto the ceiling; not giving gravity time to take a hold.

Cyborg screamed while Starfire laughed with elation.

As the end of the tunnel came into sight, Starfire drove the T-Car down the opposite wall to the one they had come up. They exited the tunnel, upright and undamaged.

_Chink! Chink!_

Cyborg pulled his hands away from the dashboard; leaving behind finger-shaped indentations. He wiped his forehead and turned to Starfire.

"Please don't ever do that again."

Starfire looked in the rearview mirror. Her little stunt had put them ahead of the van they were pursuing. Perfect.

"Cyborg, could you please take the wheel?" She said.

"What?" Cyborg didn't get a reply because Starfire had unbuckled her seatbelt and flown out the car window!

As the van exited the tunnel, Tony and Horace grinned at each other. They'd ditched the Titans. Tony cast his eyes back ahead, and his jaw dropped.

Starfire came flying towards the van, with her eyes glowing and a fist pulled back. She slammed said fist into the vehicle's bonnet, smashing through the engine and causing the back of the van to rear upwards. Reaching under the bumper, she lifted it above her head; causing Tony and Horace's faces to become pressed against the windshield. She then brought it down hard on the side of the road; bumping the occupants' heads on the roof. Walking over to the downed vehicle, Starfire tore the door off and pulled the dazed convicts out.

Hearing the sirens that indicated the police were on their way, she flew back over to the T-Car, which Cyborg had managed to bring to a safe stop. He was currently slumped over the wheel, with his head between his arms. Starfire was about to open the driver's door, when she was stopped by Cyborg's hand sticking out of the window in a 'halt' motion.

"_I'll _drive us back to the tower."

--

Fortunately, the drive back home was uneventful. Cyborg parked the T-Car in the garage and he and Starfire got out; the latter chattering cheerfully,

"Oh, that was glorious! I have pursued many villains before, but something about doing so in a land vehicle made it so… exhilarating! It was like those detective shows that Robin likes to watch. I wonder if it would've been as much fun if I had gone out on the R-Cycle, as I'd previously planned."

She turned to face her friend.

"So Cyborg, when is the next lesson?"

Cyborg lent wearily on the T-Car.

"Star, I think I'm gonna need a few days before – Wait. What was that you said about the R-Cycle?"

"Oh. When I decided that it would be useful for me to learn to drive a vehicle; I originally had the R-Cycle in mind. But, when I asked Robin if he would teach me, he said the T-Car would be a much better choice."

"Did he?" Cyborg said in a low voice.

The bionic Titan began walking towards the door to the Tower. Starfire called after him,

"Um, Cyborg? The next lesson?"

"I'll get back to you, Star." Cyborg answered over his shoulder. He then muttered to himself, "After Bird-Boy and I have a little talk."


	16. Heart to Heart

Heart to Heart

It was impossible to tell Negative Man's feelings from his facial expressions; considering the bandages covering his head hid them. His voice also held the same bored monotone it usually did. But what he said implied that he was just as surprised as the rest of the Doom Patrol.

"I see it, but I still don't believe it."

The team was all seated in the main living room of Dayton Manor. Their eyes were on the TV screen in front of them. It showed a reporter speaking from Paris, France. The headline that was portrayed below her read,

'Brotherhood of Evil Defeated'

The reporter was not alone on screen. She was speaking to a young boy. One the Doom Patrol knew very well.

"And that's how I single-handedly took down the Brotherhood of Evil." Beast Boy's face was taken up nearly entirely by his proud beam. He gave a wave to the camera, and looked like he was about to say something else, when he was cut off by his dark teammate Raven standing at his side.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say '_single-handedly_'?"

His other teammate Cyborg stuck his head in from the other side of the screen.

"Yeah. From where I was standing, it looked like we arrived just in time to save your little green butt from being frozen!"

Beast Boy glowered at his fellow Titans.

"Well maybe," he jerked a thumb at his chest. "But I'm the one who stopped Mallah and the Brain from escaping."

"Big deal!"

The Titans were now joined on screen by a girl with pink cat-like eyes and hair of the same colour.

"So you stopped an oversized monkey and an organ in a jar." She continued. "I beat Madame Rouge, and she was by far the toughest."

The girl then leaned in towards the camera.

"Hey, any Jump City police officers watching; I'm sure we can count this as an act of community service, so there's no need for any talk of jail time." She gave a small hopeful grin.

Mento and Robotman exchanged looks at this. Just what kind of company had Beast Boy been keeping?

_SCHOOOOM!_ Seemingly out of nowhere, the goggle-clad head of a boy, who couldn't have been older than twelve, appeared.

"Espera! Qué sobre nosotros?" He spoke in fast-paced Spanish.

The camera panned down to reveal that he was standing on the shoulders of another boy. They were practically identical in appearance. The only obvious difference being that the boy on top wore a plus sign on his uniform, while the bottom kid had a minus sign. The second boy spoke in a pace equally speedy to that of his companion,

"Sí! Somos los que deshelaron fuera de los presos, y después dimos vuelta a la máquina de la helada del mal individuo contra ellos!"

There was some mumbling of "Excuse me" and Beast Boy and Cyborg had to move aside as the Titans' leader Robin pushed his way to the front.

"What everyone is trying to say," He spoke to the reporter. "Is that our victory was thanks to teamwork. We owe a lot to our new members."

He gestured behind him. The camera panned out to reveal a large group of costumed people, of various shapes and sizes. Some of them were talking amongst themselves in groups. A few of the younger ones, upon noticing the camera, began waving, making V-signs, flexing their muscles and doing other such motions.

Robotman gaped at the crowd assembled onscreen.

"There must be over two dozen of them!" He said in his husky voice. "Where'd all these kids come from?"

The only member of the team who didn't look shocked or surprised was Elasti-girl. She was smiling at the image of Beast Boy surrounded by his fellow Titans.

"It looks like Garfield has made a lot of good friends." She looked towards Mento, as if asking him what he thought of it. The masked man caught her gaze, and then quickly looked back to the TV screen, seemingly unsure of what to say.

"Please don't take this the wrong way." The reporter said to Robin. "But many people are surprised by just how young you all are. Weren't you at all scared, going up against such ruthless criminals?"

Robin was about to answer, when Beast Boy stepped in.

"Scared? Nah, we're superheroes! Bad guys trying to kill us is all a part of the job."

"Hmm, maybe we should make that our new slogan." Said Raven.

The interview continued, but Mento wasn't really listening to what was being said. He kept watching the teen chatting amiably with the reporter. He'd occasionally make a joke or laugh at something one of his friends had said. Cyborg gave him a playful dig with his elbow. Starfire hugged him from behind. Even Raven granted him a small smile. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder in a congratulatory manner; the same way he had after Beast Boy had saved them in the Amazon.

For which Mento had derided him and called him foolish.

The Doom Patrol leader rested his chin on steepled fingers. The young man on the screen before him seemed so different from the clumsy unsure little boy he'd once had on his team. He felt guilty to admit such a thing to himself, but he found something about that unsettling.

--

_Titans Tower_

_(A few days later)_

"I'm telling ya, Cyborg. Not only is a vegetarian diet way more satisfying than meat; it's healthier too."

Beast Boy and Cyborg were sitting at the kitchen counter; each of them eating a burger. Beast Boy's was of the tofu variety. Cyborg's wasn't.

"Take me for example." Beast Boy gestured to himself. "I haven't eaten meat for as long as I can remember."

"And that's why you're so skinny." Cyborg cut in through a mouthful of burger.

Beast Boy put his hand down hard on the table in indignation.

"I have a fast metabolism!"

"So does Kid Flash, but even he's got more muscle than you. And do you know why? Because he eats meat."

The green Titan pointed a finger at his mechanized teammate.

"Hey! Eating meat does not automatically mean big muscles."

"Oh, really? Name me one buff vegetarian, Beast Boy. Just one."

Before Beast Boy could answer, there came a beeping noise from the supercomputer. Someone was calling via their Tower's frequency. The two heroes looked at each other. It'd been a while since anyone had called them using that line. There weren't even that many people who knew how to.

Cyborg tapped a button on the keyboard and the caller's face appeared onscreen.

"Mento?" Beast Boy got up from his seat and walked over to stand beside Cyborg. "What's going on? - Are you guys in trouble?!"

Mento raised his hand in a 'clam down' motion.

"No. We're all fine. I just called to… well, to talk."

Cyborg stepped away from the computer.

"I'll let you guys have some privacy." He said.

As the doors slid shut behind Cyborg, Beast Boy sided into the chair in front of the computer. The Titan and his former leader sat watching each other. Beast Boy was waiting for Mento to speak first. It was an old habit from his days in the Doom Patrol that he'd never quite managed to shake. Mento, upon realizing that he was expected to be the initiator, cleared his throat and began.

"I saw you on the news. In Paris."

Beast Boy's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh."

The word 'uncomfortable' would most likely have formed in the mind of an onlooker, had one been present in the room. Mento tried again.

"It seems your team has picked up quite a few new members." He spoke lightly and offered a small smile at the end.

"Heh heh, yeah. It started off with just us, and then we made a few friends and well, now there are honorary Titans pretty much all over." Beast Boy lightly scratched the side of his head. "It's amazing how things can turn out, huh?"

"Yes. It is." Mento said softly.

Beast Boy twiddled his fingers and studied the keyboard for a moment. He then brought his head back up and looked at Mento.

"Um, Mento? You're not… mad, are you?"

The surprise was evident on Mento's face.

"Mad? What for?"

Beast Boy looked down again.

"For… us taking down the Brotherhood without you." His head shot back up. "Because we were going to call you. Really, we were. Robin said it was only fair; since you'd been fighting the Brotherhood for so long; that you be involved when we made our attack. But you see, the Brotherhood attacked first, and we were all separated, and then I got ambushed by Kardiak, and my communicator was broken, and everything just happened so fast that… I guess we kinda forgot about you."

Beast Boy watched Mento nervously, as if expecting to be reprimanded.

Mento breathed out slowly through his nose.

"Beast Boy, I'm not angry." He said softly. "All I wanted – all I've _ever_ wanted - was for the Brotherhood to be stopped. I didn't really expect to be the one to do it. Part of me didn't even expect to still be here when it happened. I was starting to think this fight would go on forever."

He made a small motion towards Beast Boy.

"And then you came along."

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, me and the Titans." He replied.

"Right." Mento's voice dropped so that Beast Boy had to listen carefully to hear him. "That team… it seems to have done you a lot of good."

Realization dawned on Beast Boy. He now knew the real reason why Mento was calling.

"Hey Steve, you remember the stuff I said before? About you being a good leader, and how I turned out okay thanks to you? Well I meant it." The teen straightened up and looked at Mento seriously. "I know we didn't always get on, but I always respected you. I still do. You were so dedicated to fighting evil. You were willing to give up everything to keep the world safe. You gave me the idea that I could use my powers to do some real good, when before I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with them."

Beast Boy made sure Mento was looking him in the eye before finishing,

"The Titans helped me become a hero, but you're the one who started me on the road."

There was silence between the two of them. Beast Boy couldn't read the expression on Mento's face. Finally, he couldn't take any more.

"Y'know, if you're worried the Doom Patrol won't have anything to do now that the Brotherhood's behind bars; I'm sure there'll be other groups of evil psychos wanting to take over the world." The changeling said with a big goofy grin.

Mento looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled. The smile turned into laughter and Beast Boy giggled along with him.

"Well there's always the hope." Mento gave a little shrug. "I should probably let you go. I'm sure you've got things to take care of."

"Hmm? Oh no, this is my loafing time. Don't go yet. I wanna know what you guys have been up to. You, and Cliff, and Larry, and Rita. And you _and_ Rita." Beast Boy wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

"Beast Boy…" Mento's voice turned stern again, but Beast Boy continued; this time puckering out his lips and making mock kissing noises.

"Beast Boy, I'm warning you."

"What're you gonna do, Pot-Head? Can that fancy helmet let you get me through the computer screen?"

The bickering continued for hours. It felt perfectly normal for both Beast Boy and Mento. And, although neither said so, they felt comforted by that.


	17. How to Talk to People

How to Talk to People

The world couldn't possibly have changed this much.

Granted, Jericho had spent the last few years of his young life living on a solitary mountaintop with very little human contact; but he never would've thought that a simple task, like ordering a coffee, would've ever become so difficult.

First of all, even though there were several people waiting to order at the counter; there was no queue that he could see. He'd tried standing behind the customer being served, but when his turn had come someone else had just stepped in front of him.

Another perplexing thing was the fact that there were five cash registers, but only one of them had a person standing behind it. Jericho could see the other coffee shop workers behind the counter, but they were either talking, reading a magazine or just idly picking fluff off of their uniforms.

Finally, the blond mute was stood before the only manned register. They boy behind it looked to be a few years older than him. He had greasy brown hair, with some parts dyed green, which hung in strands over his eyes. His face was covered in spots and he was staring stoically down at the counter in front of him.

"What d'ya want?" The boy didn't even bother to look up at his customer as he spoke.

Jericho was taken aback slightly by the curt wording of the question. Nevertheless he placed the menu down on the counter, where the boy could see it, and began to point to the drinks his friends had asked for.

There was a strawberry milkshake for Kole, a vanilla milkshake for Gnaark, a green tea for Raven, a black coffee for Jinx, a mocha with thirty seven sugars for Kid Flash and a café au lait for himself.

The cashier worker just stared at the menu as Jericho pointed out his choices; not writing anything down or even making any acknowledgement that he understood.

"Hey, Sam."

The greasy haired boy turned around to face one of his workmates, who had called to him.

"We're gonna go take a smoke break. You coming with?"

"Yeah. Just gimmie a sec." Sam jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards Jericho. "I gotta deal with some deaf guy first."

The other worker looked at Jericho as if noticing him for the first time. He let out a snort of laughter.

"Oh man, you got a real winner there. Check out those sideburns. Maybe he's on his way to an Allman Brothers gig."

The two of them laughed; seeming to completely ignore Jericho. The boy waited for a few moments before tapping his knuckles on the countertop. Sam turned back to face him; although somewhat grudgingly, as if he was bothered at having his conversation interrupted.

Now that he had his attention again, Jericho pointed to his ear and nodded. He then pointed to his throat and shook his head. He hoped that this would get the message across that he was mute, not deaf.

He chose to ignore the comment made about his sideburns.

Sam leant his elbow on the counter and rested his chin on his fist.

"So, what you want again?"

Jericho managed to stop himself from sighing and began to point out his orders again.

"Hey J, what's taking so long?"

The blond Titan looked over his shoulder to see Jinx standing behind him with her arms crossed.

"The others are wondering where you are, and Kid's whining about how he's going to go into metabolic meltdown if he doesn't get some sugar soon." The dark-clad girl continued.

Jericho turned back to Sam, but the cashier worker was just staring off into space. Jinx came to stand beside him.

"Trouble communicating?"

The mute replied with a half-shrug. Jinx held her hand up in a reassuring gesture.

"No problem. I'll handle this."

She then slammed her hands down hard on the countertop, shocking Sam out of his daydreaming.

"Hey Pimpleface, you think you can get your hair out of your eyes and the grease out of your ears long enough to take my order?!" The pink haired teen leaned over the counter, so that her slitted pupils were staring directly into Sam's eyes. She took hold of his shirt with one hand and used the other to count off her orders; all the while speaking loudly to the boy's face.

"I'll take two milkshakes; one strawberry and one vanilla, a green tea, a mocha with thirty seven sugars – actually it might save time if you just filled half a cup with sugar, then added the mocha – a black coffee; and it was a café au lait for you, right Jericho?"

The gaping boy just nodded.

"Right. You think you can handle all that?" Jinx let Sam go and the worker stumbled back; staring at her with apprehension. The girl leant on the counter again.

"Yeah, I'd like those drinks _today_!"

Her eyes flashed briefly with pink light. The cashier's till sprang open and hit Sam in the stomach. The boy quickly turned and headed for the coffee machines. It's quite possible he broke a world record for the fastest preparation of drinks, but since no one was keeping time it would never be known for certain.

Jinx took the tray with their beverages and looked towards Jericho.

"See? You just gotta know how to talk to people." She said.

Jericho took his money out of his pocket, counted out the correct amount and placed it on the counter. He nodded a quick 'thank you' to the quivering Sam and followed after Jinx.

He was starting to remember what had been so appealing about a solitary mountaintop to begin with.


	18. Business and Pleasure

Business and Pleasure

Stealing was fun. That was the sole reason that Red X did it. Oh sure, there was the whole 'gotta make a living' excuse. But in all honesty, if he wanted money, he could just get a job. X was a very talented young man. There was any number of well-paying occupations that he could excel in. However, the thought alone of working a nine to five made him yawn with boredom.

So yeah, stealing was fun. But… there were times where even that could get kinda tedious.

Up to now, X had always done his thievery after-hours. When there was no one around except security. And they were just so _easy_! With their strict patrols and regulations; he'd just have to watch them for about an hour to learn their routines and pick the right moment to move in.

Today, he figured he'd try something different. Instead of waiting until nightfall, he was doing this job while it was still light. Not 'middle of the day' type light. He wasn't stupid. The sun was just going down and, since it was a Sunday, a lot of the places would already be closed in the mall; or whatever they called these places here in New Zealand.

Yep. He was in New Zealand. After losing his xenothium belt to Robin, it'd been too risky for X to keep his night time antics up in Jump City. He was good, but taking on five superheroes at once without the tricks that the belt had provided; that was just asking for a one-way trip to JC Penitentiary.

So he'd hit the road. Fortunately, Jump hadn't been the only place in the world where xenothium could be found. It'd taken him months, but he'd managed to track down and steal a good supply of the red stuff. He'd even constructed a new belt to store it in. Now he was Red X again. And the fun could resume.

The thief had considered returning to Jump, but the travel bug had bitten him. So he roamed from place to place; stealing, giving the authorities grief, generally doing what he pleased until he got bored and moved on. He'd even run into the Titans at one point, during which Robin had kinda, sorta, saved his life. But he'd repaid the favor, so now they were even-steven.

Back to the present; X had just teleported in front of a closed jewelry store. Activating the buzz saws on his gloves, he set to cutting through the metal shutters that were down over the entrance. The store was on an upper level and fairly far back from the main entrance, so it was unlikely that any of the few people still wandering the complex would hear him. Unlikely but not impossible. That was the whole point of this little excursion. Stealing wasn't as much fun without even the slightest chance that you might be caught.

He pulled the man-sized piece of shutter away and used a simple lock pick to get through the door on the other side. As he stepped into the store, he looked up and saw a security camera in the corner. The thief walked into its' line of sight and waved at it. He knew there was a security guard in the monitor room right now, and he knew that he could see X in the store. He also knew that there was nothing the guard could do about it, on account of being bound to his chair with an X-shaped gag over his mouth.

X walked among the various cases; each holding valuable stones. He had one hand behind his back and the other cupping his chin, as if he were a customer choosing what to buy.

"Let's see now." He murmured to himself. "Which one of these says 'me'?"

He looked up and his masked eyes widened. In the centre of the store sat a large glass case which housed a fine gold necklace. Adorning it was a sparkling garnet. X could actually see his reflection in the beautiful red stone.

"Hello. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner."

He raised a hand towards the case, but stopped at a voice speaking from behind him.

"I'd leave that alone if I were you."

The thief turned around the see a young girl, looking about sixteen or so, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. One quick glance at her appearance was enough to let X know she was a meta. She had silver skin and red eyes. Her unruly hair was black, except for two large red strands at the front. She wore a strapless black dress with a red skirt, knee-high boots of a similar style and black full-length gloves.

When she spoke, it was with a definite accent. She sounded very 'upper-class' which contrasted greatly with her almost gothic attire.

"Aren't you aware that the store is closed?"

X stood in a relaxed stance and gave a casual shrug.

"What can I say? I like to avoid the crowds."

Suddenly his hands whipped up and he fired a volley of razor sharp X's at the girl.

Her eyes widened at the surprise attack, but she managed to bring her own hands up and a glowing red shield appeared in front of her; successfully blocking the projectiles. The crimson energy that formed the shield returned to her hands and she got ready to launch a counterattack – only to find that the thief had disappeared.

"Surprise." The silver skinned teen only turned halfway before having her legs swept out from under her. From her new position on the floor, she produced a large red hand and struck out at her assailiant.

X pressed the centre button on his belt and teleported over to the other side of the room before the hand could grab him. He wagged a finger and tutted at the girl.

"Now, now; let's not get grabby. We haven't even been introduced yet."

The young heroine got back to her feet and faced him in a ready stance.

"Very well. I'm Argent. And you are?"

"Red X." The dark-clad boy performed a small bow, as if greeting someone at a dinner party. "You may have heard of me."

"Sorry; no." Argent flung an arm forward, and a pair of red pincers flew towards X.

He leapt up, performing a backwards flip; avoiding the attack. Planting his feet on the wall; he launched himself forward, towards Argent.

"Well, believe me. That's about to change."

He unleashed, from his belt, some more of his X-shaped weaponry. These hit the floor around his would-be captor and released a thick cloud of red smoke.

Coughing and rubbing her stinging eyes; Argent staggered out of the scarlet haze, only to be hit in the chest by something and flung against the wall. Once her vision had cleared, she saw that she was stuck behind a large sticky X. Her left arm was trapped by her side, while her right was up by her head.

She struggled, but the gummy material held fast. Looking up, she could see X sitting informally on the customer serving desk. Although it was impossible to see his face under his mask, she'd bet any amount of money that he was grinning. The girl narrowed her eyes and fixed him with a glare.

"Anyone ever tell you, you're cute when you're mad?" The thief said in a teasing voice.

Argent rolled her eyes.

"You can stop right there. You're not my type."

"What's not your type?" X hopped down from the desk and walked over to the case holding the garnet necklace. His face was turned away from Argent, so he did not notice her uppermost hand starting to glow red. "Rebellious? Witty? Handsome, if I do say so myself?"

"Criminal." The dark haired teen replied; hoping to keep X talking, while the plasma emitting from her palm began to take shape.

"Oh man, you sound like the Boy Wonder." X planted a hand on the glass case. A red cross flashed briefly over the glass before it fell away into four separate pieces. He picked up the necklace, tucked it into his belt and turned back towards Argent. "Are all you heroes this -?"

He stopped at the sight of Argent freeing herself with a floating pair of crimson scissors. Bringing his hands up, the masked boy fired off a volley of X-shurikens. Argent rose into the air to dodge them. She then flung her own arms forward and X felt something clamp around his wrists. He looked down to see a set of red handcuffs. The thief gave a little laugh.

"Cute. I like your style."

The buzz saws on the back of his gloves activated and chopped through his bonds. He stopped their spinning and brandished them like a pair of swords.

"Wanna see mine?"

He lunged forward at Argent slicing the air with his blades. She quickly whipped up another shield, with her left hand, and blocked his strikes. Then forming a blunt sword in her right; she began to fight back.

The crime-fighter and the crime-committer dueled around the store. Some unfortunate jewelry cases got smashed in the process; Argent grimacing each time. The young heroine was spending most of her time on the defensive. This Red X was incredibly agile. She'd tried flying up above him but, with the store's low ceiling, it hadn't made a lot of difference. Plus, the boy could jump like a grasshopper! As the fight wore on, she was getting increasingly frustrated.

X, on the other hand, was enjoying himself immensely. Superheroes were so much more fun to fight than cops and security guards. He leapt back, halting the fight for a moment.

"So Silver, do you want to keep playing or should I start actually trying?"

A growl of anger escaped through Argent's clenched teeth. She brought both her hands together, formed a giant fist and threw it at the thief. X ducked and the fist crashed through the glass of the store's window and into the metal shutters; sending them flying over the balcony and down to the lower level. X stood up and whistled at the carnage.

"Easy Tiger, you're more dangerous to this place than I am."

Before Argent could reply, the sound of an explosion rang out and the floor beneath them shook. The two teens looked at each other.

"Got nothing to do with me." Said X.

Argent ran past him and stood by the balcony outside the store. Through the glass windows at the front of the complex, she could see a tall robotic figure firing rockets in random directions.

"Ah, the giant robot. A classic." She turned to see X standing right beside her. He turned his head to face her and Argent was positive he was grinning again.

"Looks like you've the old 'hero's choice'." He Said. "Catch the thief or save the city."

Argent glared at him for a few seconds, and then turned her head away with a sniff.

"You're not even worth worrying about." She jumped off the balcony and flew out the front entrance.

"Oh, that hurts." X called after her; putting his hand over his heart in mock despair. He began walking away, shaking his head. Heroes… everything was all business with them. The boy stopped as he heard voices calling out. Looking to his left, he saw the doors of an elevator. It was from here that the voices were coming.

Prying the doors open, X looked down to see the elevator car down at the bottom of the shaft. The voices were its' occupants calling for help. The thief guessed that one of that robot's rockets must've knocked the car out of order.

The seven people in the elevator; consisting of four men and three women; stepped back in surprise as a pair of circular blades cut a large square hole in the roof. A figure dressed entirely in black dropped in among them.

"Hello, folks." He said cheerfully. "Looks like you could use a lift."

He pointed his arm upward and fired a grappling hook out of the car, all the way to the ceiling of the shaft. A man stepped forward, but X stopped him with a hand motion.

"Sir, please. Where is your sense of chivalry?" He then offered his hand to the youngest (and prettiest) woman present. "Ladies first."

She took his hand, and he pulled her close to him; looping his arm around her waist.

"Hold on tight." He said to her. As they shot upward, she threw her arms around his neck. X smiled under his mask. Thievery was fun, but heroism had its' perks too.

--

Argent dusted off her hands and looked down at the man lying on the ground with red bindings around his arms and legs. He was nothing special. Just some nut with an oversized power suit. And the suit wasn't that much either. All she'd had to do was plug its' port vents up with plasma and the thing had blown up; leaving her to catch its' rider as his ejector seat came down.

She considered seeing if Red X was still around, but there seemed little point. That guy was probably long gone by now. Argent smiled as she reached into her pocket and took out the garnet necklace he'd planned on making off with. The guy was a great fighter, but he had a weakness for talking too much. He'd been so busy going on about giant robots and the 'hero's choice', that he hadn't noticed a little red hook fishing the necklace out of his belt.

The bad guy may have gotten away, but he had gotten away empty-handed.

--

X stood on a rooftop, watching the stars appearing in the night sky.

"I guess it's true what they say." He spoke to himself. "Virtue really is its' own reward."

The thief looked at the wallet held between his middle and forefinger. It was one of the few he'd slipped out of the people's pockets, while he'd been carrying them to safety. In total, he had five wallets, four bracelets, three pairs of earrings and a wedding ring. Not bad for a quick job. X began to rifle through the wallet.

"Now, let's see what we got in here. Cash… credit cards… Ooh! Soda coupons."


End file.
